JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 


A  MEMOIR  OF  THE  LIFE  OF 

M 

JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES,   LL.D 

WITH  THE  PROCEEDINGS  OF 

VARIOUS  SOCIETIES 

ADDRESSES,  PAPERS,  AND  RESOLUTIONS 

IN  COMMEMORATION 

OF  HIM 


BOSTON:  PRIVATELY  PRINTED 
MDCCCCI 


EI75 


TL 


CONTENTS 

JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES,  LL.D.,  A  MEMOIR  BY  HIS  FRIEND 
AND  CLASSMATE  JOSEPH  MAY  1 

ADDRESSES  DELIVERED  BEFORE  THE  MASSACHUSETTS  HIS 
TORICAL  SOCIETY  IN  COMMEMORATION  OF  JOHN  COD- 
MAN  ROPES,  NOVEMBER  9,  1899  39 
Address  by  Charles  Francis  Adams. 
Address  by  Solomon  Lincoln. 
Address  by  John  C.  Gray. 
Address  by  George  B.  Chase. 

ADDRESS  BEFORE  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY  OF  ARTS  AND 
SCIENCES  BY  JOHN  FISKE  65 

A  MEMORIAL  SKETCH  BY  A.  J.  C.  SOWDON  75 

RESOLUTIONS  OF  THE  BAR  ASSOCIATION  OF  THE  CITY  OF 
BOSTON  83 

Address  by  J.  Lewis  Stackpole  87 

RESOLUTIONS  OF  THE  TWENTIETH  REGIMENT  ASSOCIA 
TION  93 

RESOLUTIONS  OF  THE  MILITARY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  OF 
MASSACHUSETTS  97 

RESOLUTIONS  OF  THE  COMMANDERY  OF  THE  STATE  OF 
MASSACHUSETTS,  MILITARY  ORDER  OF  THE  LOYAL  LE 
GION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  103 

RESOLUTIONS  OF  THE  VESTRY  OF  TRINITY  CHURCH  IN  THE 
CITY  OF  BOSTON  107 

BIBLIOGRAPHY  OF  WRITINGS  OF  JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES        111 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES,  LL.D. 

A  MEMOIR 

BY  HIS  FRIEND  AND  CLASSMATE 
JOSEPH  MAY 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES,  LL.D.1 

A  MEMOIR  BY  JOSEPH  MAY 

JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES  was  the  son  of  William 
Ropes,  who  during  a  long  business  career  did  honor 
to  the  title  "merchant  of  Boston." 

William  Ropes  was  a  native  of  Salem,  where  his  an 
cestors  had  been  merchants  for  several  generations.  As 
was  the  custom  of  the  times,  he  went  in  his  youth  as 
supercargo  on  repeated  voyages  to  India,  China,  and  else 
where,  gaining  a  knowledge  of  commerce,  of  seamanship, 
and  of  foreign  countries,  and  becoming  at  length  the 
owner  of  vessels  and  head  of  a  commercial  house. 

About  the  year  1830,  when  fully  in  middle  life,  and 
it  would  appear  in  consequence  of  some  partial  business 
reverses,  Mr.  Ropes  emigrated  to  Russia,  where  he  re 
mained  about  seven  years,  establishing  in  St.  Petersburg 
a  mercantile  house  which  still  exists. 

Before  his  departure  from  home,  Mr.  Ropes  had 
united  himself,  in  a  second  marriage,  with  Mary  Anne, 
daughter  of  Hon.  John  Codmari,  an  eminent  merchant 
and  citizen  of  Boston,  residing  at  the  head  of  Hanover 
Street.2 

Mrs.  Ropes,  with  several  step-children,  accompanied 
her  husband  to  Russia,  and  in  St.  Petersburg,  on  April 
28, 1836,  her  first  son  was  born,  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 
A  year  later  the  family  removed  to  London,  where  Mr. 

1  Mr.  Ropes  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws  in  1897. 

2  Mr.    Codmans   second  son   and    namesake,   older    half-brother   of  Mrs. 
Ropes,  was  the  somewhat  celebrated  minister  of  Dorchester,  prominent  in 
the  theological  controversies  of  the  times. 

[i  ] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

bigotry.  Deeply  earnest  in  their  feelings,  they  were  in 
stinctively  liberal  towards  those  whose  convictions  dif 
fered  from  their  own.  For  the  husband  the  subtleties  of 
theology  had  indeed  but  little  attraction.  A  few  cardinal 
principles  composed  his  simple  creed,  defended  his  moral 
life,  and  made  his  artless  devotional  exercises  in  his  home 
peculiarly  affecting.  Mrs.  Ropes  entered  more  deeply  into 
the  intricacies  of  the  orthodox  theology,  and  accepted  the 
system  with  a  consistency  which  at  times  made  the  bur 
den  heavy  for  her  heart.  But  she  was  as  candid  as  she  was 
earnest.  For  her,  and  for  her  husband,  religion  was  a  prac 
tical  interest  of  life,  too  real  to  be  given  over  to  formality 
and  too  natural  for  conventionality  or  asceticism.  Its  sin 
cerity  and  simplicity  in  themselves,  the  manifest  happi 
ness,  dignity,  and  moral  security  which  it  fostered  in  them, 
recommended  it  to  their  children  and  won  them  perma 
nently  to  it.  For  John  Codman  Ropes  it  was,  throughout 
life,  the  supreme  subject  of  concern,  with  which  his  mind 
habitually  conversed. 

In  1849  William  Ropes  removed  his  abode  from  the 
hired  house  which  he  had  occupied  at  32  Chestnut  Street 
to  92  Beacon  Street,  opposite  the  Public  Garden,  a  house 
which  he  had  built.  Here  his  home  remained  until  his 
death,  a  centre  of  hospitality  and  cheerful  domesticity. 
One  or  two  of  his  older  children  were  still  members  of 
his  family.  There  reigned  among  all  the  most  open  con 
fidence  and  warmest  family  affection,  reflecting  the  per 
fect  married  union  of  the  parents.  The  physical  vigor 
which  all  enjoyed;  the  mental  activity  and  independence 
which  peculiarly  characterized  them;  their  lively  dispo 
sitions  and  hearty  interest  in  all  forms  of  culture  and  in 
the  mooted  questions  of  an  intense  period  of  our  national 
life,  made  their  family  intercourse  exceptionally  enter- 

[4] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

taming  and  stimulating.  The  handsome  and  bountiful 
table,  where  old-fashioned  decorum  yielded  not  a  little 
to  the  irrepressible  spirits  of  vigorous  youth,  and  their 
eager  interest  in  the  topics  that  easily  cropped  up  in  such 
a  circle  for  discussion,  afforded  a  beautiful  spectacle  of 
domestic  happiness.  Many  a  guest  of  varied  quality,  from 
the  captain  of  one  of  the  father's  ships  to  the  divine  in 
whose  conversation  the  mother  especially  found  edifica 
tion,  sat  there  and  stimulated  by  his  talk  the  ready  curi 
osity  of  the  bright  and  rapidly  maturing  minds  of  the 
children.  High  debate,  ready  laughter,  abounded.  It  was 
a  home  full  of  good  cheer,  serious  purpose,  culture,  kind 
ness,  mutual  affection,  charity,  true  piety. 

The  boys  and  their  sister  were  educated  according  to 
the  best  standards  of  the  time,  and  as  they  grew,  availed 
themselves  more  diligently  and  systematically  than  is 
often  the  case,  of  the  means  of  culture  offered  by  libra 
ries,  lyceum  lectures,  concerts,  and  the  like  agencies.  John 
Ropes,  especially,  was  addicted  to  literature  from  his  ear 
liest  days.  His  mother  said  he  seemed  to  have  been  born 
with  a  book  in  his  hand,  and  in  a  very  early  portrait  he 
is  so  represented.  He  had  a  lively  disposition;  all  his  life 
he  was  fond  of  jollity  and  song.  But  he  was  soberly 
thoughtful  always.  He  took  life  seriously  from  the  first. 
His  mind  moved  constantly  on  important  themes,  prac 
tical  and  theoretic.  A  serious  question  had  a  certain  in 
tellectual  and  even  moral  sanctity  for  him.  To  leave  it 
open,  if  it  could  be  solved,  was  a  sort  of  offence  to  right 
which  always  left  his  mind  restless.  Correspondingly, 
when  determined,  a  result  was  deeply  fixed,  and  it  was 
difficult  to  dislodge  or  modify  it,  so  thorough  was  the 
process  by  which  he  came  to  each  conclusion.  This  thor 
oughness  of  mind  affected  his  habits  of  reading  in  a 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

marked  manner.  They  were  never  desultory.  "Miscella 
neous  "  reading  he  abhorred.  He  had  a  peculiar  antipathy 
to  encyclopaedias  and  "works  of  reference."  Except  novels, 
of  which  in  later  years  he  read  many,  purely  for  mental 
recreation,  he  paid  almost  no  attention  at  all  to  light  or 
general  literature.  As  a  matter  of  culture,  he  was  made 
acquainted  in  youth  with  the  great  poets  of  old,  and  the 
more  popular  of  later  days.  But  poetry  was  never  an  im 
portant  element  in  his  mental  life.  Wordsworth  and  Bry 
ant  were  the  only  modern  poets  in  whom  he  took  real 
interest.  The  essayists  he  read  eclectically,  but  the  older 
with  more  regard  than  the  later.  For  Dr.  Johnson  he  had 
almost  a  personal  attachment.  He  used  to  say,  "What 
ever  any  man  thinks  of  Dr.  Johnson,  every  one  is  glad 
to  have  him  on  his  side." 

The  precise  fact  was  that,  for  Mr.  Ropes,  reading  was 
in  a  peculiar  manner  and  very  strictly  a  means,  not  an 
end.  He  read  on  the  particular  lines  in  which  his  thought 
was  moving,  to  gain  facts  or  to  clarify  ideas.  It  thus  oc 
curred  that,  when  quite  a  youth,  his  reading  became  some 
what  narrowly  specialized.  Throughout  life,  theology  and 
history,  including  biography,  covered  nearly  its  whole 
field. 

The  same  practicality  entered  into  all  the  action  of  Mr. 
Ropes's  mind  and  appeared  in  personal  intercourse.  He 
loved  amusements  and  the  lively  banter  of  hours  of  rec 
reation.  But  in  mere  talk  for  talk's  sake,  in  a  conversa 
tion  which  did  not  turn  on  important  questions  or  tend 
to  enucleate  important  truth,  he  lost  interest  and  became 
silent.  All  the  real  action  of  his  mind  was  practical. 

With  his  brother,  Francis  Codman,  John  was  for  some 
years  a  pupil  at  the  Chauncy  Hall  School,  which  he 
entered  in  1843  under  the  well-known  masters  Thayer 

[6] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

and  Gushing.  Of  that  school  he  says:1  "Not  enforcing  a 
discipline  so  rigid  as  that  of  many  of  our  public  schools, 
it  for  that  reason  gave  more  scope  to  individual  en 
deavor;  and  though,  in  attention  to  the  elegancies  of 
scholarship  (which,  by  the  way,  are  thrown  away  on  the 
majority  of  boys),  it  was  surpassed  by  some  of  its  contem 
poraries,  yet  it  taught  well  what  it  professed  to  teach,  and 
afforded  as  good  opportunities  for  the  acquisition  of  the 
rudiments  of  an  education,  which  are  all  that  boys  can 
learn,  as  any  school  in  the  city."  The  parenthetical  ob 
servation  of  this  passage  illustrates  the  practicality  of 
mind  to  which  we  have  referred.  But  practicality  was 
not  the  only  side  of  it;  and  as  it  existed  in  him  it  was 
that  of  the  devotee  of  truth  and  reality,  not  of  mundane 
affairs. 

On  account  of  a  developing  trouble  of  the  spine,  Ropes 
was  withdrawn  from  school  in  the  autumn  of  1850  and 
put  under  orthopaedic  treatment.  A  year  later  he  was 
able  to  resume  study,  and  became  the  pupil  of  Mr.  Will 
iam  W.  Goodwin,  then  a  tutor  in  college,  now  the  dis 
tinguished  professor  of  Greek.  He  took  the  greatest  sat 
isfaction  in  the  two  years  spent  under  Mr.  Goodwin's 
tutelage,  from  which  he  passed  to  college  in  the  summer 
of  1853,  accompanied  by  his  brother  Francis. 

Of  his  freshman  year,  Ropes  retained  no  very  pleas 
ant  impressions.  He  and  his  brother  had  engaged  a  room 
remote  from  the  college,  and  they  made  few  acquaint 
ances.  In  the  second  term  John  had  a  somewhat  long 
illness.  On  the  whole,  it  was  a  dreary  time.  In  sopho 
more  year,  having  removed  nearer  the  buildings,  ac 
quaintanceship  with  his  class  increased,  and  he  "found 

1  In  a  fragmentary  sketch  of  his  life  ivritten  at  twenty-one  and  revised  for 
the  Class  Book  of  1857. 

[7] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

Cambridge  life  very  cheerful  and  pleasant,  as  I  have 
found  it  ever  since."  From  this  time  on,  he  grew  in  in 
fluence  and  popularity  in  his  class  and  in  college.  By 
virtue  of  his  excellent  preparation,  he  early  took  a  good 
rank  in  the  classics  and  mathematics,  but  his  greater 
interest  was  (poorly  as  they  were  taught)  in  what  were 
summarily  called  "the  English  branches,"  and  his  range 
of  thought  and  reading  was  largely  outside  the  narrow 
compass  of  the  regular  curriculum.  For  the  majority  of 
students,  metaphysics,  political  economy,  moral  philoso 
phy,  logic,  and  rhetoric,  as  taught  in  that  day,  were  a 
jejune  and  dreary  task- work.  Professor  Bowen  was 
doubtless  clear  and  thorough,  and  occasionally  a  gleam 
of  humor  illumined  his  exercises.  But  history,  owing 
partly  to  a  prolonged  hiatus  in  the  professorship,  was, 
at  least  until  senior  year,  little  better  than  a  farce.  The 
recitation-method  and  marking-system  still  in  vogue, 
put  a  premium  on  memoriter  performances,  and  dead 
ened  real  interest  in  all  these  subjects.  Only  Dr.  Walker, 
already  President  but  still  taking  charge  of  some  courses 
and  occasionally  appearing  in  others,  brought  with  him 
a  more  liberal  spirit,  and  gave  life  to  the  usually  tire 
some  experiences  of  the  class-rooms.  But  not  even  he 
could  make  freshmen  generally  interested  in  Paley's 
Evidences!  Ropes  was  much  alone  in  caring  for  most 
of  these  subjects,  in  some  of  which  home  training  had 
already  led  him  to  take  an  interest.  For  a  year  or  two, 
besides  his  college  work,  he  belonged  to  a  Bible- class 
conducted  by  the  minister  of  the  Congregational  church. 
But  while  he  always  maintained  reasonable  diligence  in 
required  studies,  his  mind  was  more  and  more  engaged 
in  private  reading  and  thinking.  As  has  been  remarked, 
he  was  far  from  being  an  omnivorous  reader;  but  in  col- 

[8] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

lege,  as  throughout  life,  he  read  much  because  he  read 
reflectively  and  with  an  end  always  in  view.  He  cared 
for  books  only  as  the  depositories  of  knowledge  and  aids 
to  thought.  He  had  none  of  that  love  for  the  volumes 
themselves  which  is  apt  to  mark  the  literary  man,  and 
never  became  ambitious  to  acquire  a  large  and  complete 
library.  While  not  appearing  to  read  rapidly,  he  had  a 
singular  power  of  gathering  what  a  book  contained— 
for  him — and  always  proved  to  know  more,  even  of 
general  literature,  than  he  had  seemed  to  be  acquiring. 
His  tenacious  memory  utilized  all  that  it  appropriated. 
It  was  not  merely  tenacious,  however,  but  in  a  singular 
manner  selective.  He  retained  only  what  was  valuable 
for  his  purposes.  His  mind  curiously  defended  itself 
against  the  accumulation  of  miscellaneous  impedimenta 
of  knowledge.  Some  great  departments — as  natural  sci 
ence,  for  example — he  left  wholly  on  one  side,  respect 
ing  them,  but  never  pretending  to  care  for  them. 

In  the  fields  where  he  was  at  home  he  fixedly  appro 
priated  what  he  wanted,  and  the  rest  appeared  wholly 
to  drop  out  of  his  mind.  In  history,  where  his  knowledge 
became  so  remarkable,  it  was  chiefly  confined  within 
somewhat  narrow  limits.  Yet  he  always  seemed  to  have, 
in  a  latent  fund,  as  much  general  information  as  he  cared 
to  possess,  and  whatever  he  had  was  always  perfectly 
clear  and  accurate,  and  thorough  so  far  as  he  had  chosen 
to  extend  it.  His  grasp  of  what  he  had  acquired  had  not 
the  quality  of  memory;  it  was  knowledge.  It  was  im 
pressed  on  his  mind  by  a  sort  of  photographic  process. 
It  never  faded  and  was  always  instantly  at  command, 
like  one's  knowledge  of  the  alphabet  or  multipli  cation - 
table.  This  tenacity  extended  to  the  smallest  details  that 
were  of  importance ;  to  dates,  localities,  subordinate  per- 

[9] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

sonalities ;  in  military  matters,  to  the  numbers  of  troops, 
the  identity  of  officers,  the  minutiae  of  operations.  Es 
pecially  pleasing  incidents  of  private  experience,  or  those 
which  for  any  reason  had  been  of  real  significance,  re 
mained  in  full  vividness  and  were  recalled  by  date  to  the 
hour.  But  a  vast  mass  of  recollections  to  which  most 
minds  are  subject,  wholly  failed  to  keep  a  lodgment  in 
his.  His  capacity  for  totally  forgetting  was  as  remarkable 
as  his  power  of  retaining,  and  was  an  important  condi 
tion  of  it.  His  mind  thus  visibly  economized  its  forces  to 
the  greatest  advantage. 

Ropes's  intellectual  ability,  the  justness  of  his  mind, 
and  his  cordiality  of  nature  were  speedily  recognized  in 
college,  when  his  class  had  become  acquainted  with  him. 
The  excellence  of  his  themes  and  forensics  (especially  the 
latter,  in  which  sound  reasoning  was  the  matter  of  prime 
importance)  led  to  his  being  elected  one  of  the  editors  of 
the  Harvard  Magazine,  and  he  contributed  to  its  pages 
not  infrequent  sober  papers.  He  took  particular  interest 
in  the  intellectual  exercises  of  the  college  societies,  and 
his  orderly  and  persistent  habit  of  mind  did  much  for  the 
prosperity  and  usefulness  of  each  of  them.  His  social  in 
stinct  was  peculiarly  strong, — he  was  thoroughly  "club 
bable"— so  that  of  the  "Institute,"  the  A  A  3>,  and  the 
Hasty  Pudding  Club  he  was  a  popular  and  influential 
member.  He  was  chosen  into  the  <£  B  K,  in  regular  order, 
in  junior  year. 

His  own  general  estimate  of  college  life  he  summed 
up  at  the  time  in  the  biographical  fragment  already 
alluded  to,  written  on  his  twenty-first  birthday,  in  his 
second  senior  term:  "Though  not  without  the  ordinary 
vexations  of  life,  my  college  course  has,  as  a  whole,  been 
very  pleasant;  and  though,  of  course,  its  literary  advan- 

[10] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

tages  have  not  been  improved  as  they  might  have  been, 
yet  I  am  conscious  of  having  used  them  with  consider 
able  profit  to  myself.  But  although  I  have  not  been  an 
unstudious  man,  by  any  means,  it  is  my  present  belief 
that  I  shall  value  the  impressions  of  life  and  character 
received  here  and  the  acquaintanceships  and  friendships 
I  have  formed,  more  than  all  the  knowledge  or  even  the 
habits  of  study  imparted  by  a  course  of  text-books  and 
recitations  which,  however  apparently  unavoidable,  are 
certainly,  in  most  cases,  unproductive  of  either  the  ex 
tensive  learning  or  the  thorough  mental  training  which 
ought  to  be  acquired  in  college." 

Modern  methods  of  study  were  foreshadowed,  in  those 
days,  in  a  great  restlessness  under  the  compulsory  system 
and  debate  as  to  its  modification.  Ropes  adds  to  the 
above:  "It  will  be  my  aim  in  the  study  of  the  Law,  to 
which  I  have  always  intended  to  devote  myself,  to  see 
whether  the  'voluntary'  system  be  not  more  conducive 
to  application,  with  more  satisfactory  results." 

Graduating  from  college  in  1857,  Ropes  entered  the 
Law  School  in  March,  1858,  and  continued  there  till 
March  8, 1859.  After  a  six  months'  visit  to  Europe,  with 
his  father,  he  returned  to  Boston,  and  entered  the  office 
of  Messrs.  Peleg  W.  Chandler  and  George  O.  Shattuck, 
remaining  with  those  eminent  lawyers  until  the  autumn 
of  1860,  when  he  again  entered  the  Law  School,  and  took 
his  degree  of  LL.B.  in  July,  1861. 

In  this  year  he  was  awarded  the  Bowdoin  Prize  for  an 
essay  upon  "The  Limits  of  Religious  Thought,"  with 
special  reference  to  Mansel's  volume  so  entitled. 

After  graduating  he  returned  to  the  office  of  Messrs. 
Chandler  and  Shattuck,  and  in  November,  1861,  was 
admitted  to  the  bar.  For  some  time  he  occupied  an  of- 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

fice  in  common  with  his  classmate  Mr.  Robert  M.  Morse, 
and  in  1865  he  became  formally  associated  in  practice 
with  his  friend  Mr.  John  C.  Gray.  In  1878  Mr.  Wm. 
Caleb  Loring  joined  the  firm,  of  which  the  style  became 
Ropes,  Gray  and  Loring,  and  of  which  Mr.  Ropes  re 
mained  the  senior  partner  until  his  death. 

To  his  two  years  in  the  Law  School,  Ropes  always 
reverted  with  peculiar  satisfaction  as  among  the  most  de 
lightful  and  profitable  of  his  life.  His  mind  was  now  well 
matured;  the  subjects  and  mode  of  study  were  agreeable 
to  him;  he  had  leisure  for  reflection  and  reading;  and 
especially — what  was  always  indispensable  to  his  happi 
ness — he  was  associated  with  a  group  of  highly  congenial 
friends.  Among  these  were  several  of  his  college  class 
mates.  Of  others  with  whom  he  was  in  daily  and  nightly 
contact  and  held  high  converse,  it  will  not  be  invidious 
to  mention  particularly  Stephen  George  Perkins,  of  the 
class  of  1856,  who  gave  his  life  for  his  country  in  1862 
and  whose  influence  on  Ropes's  own  strong  mind  the  lat 
ter  always  felt  to  have  been  exceptionally  important  to 
him. 

Estimates  of  Mr.  Ropes's  qualities  as  a  lawyer  have 
been  offered  to  this  Society,  and  more  particularly  at  the 
meeting  of  the  Bar  Association  called  to  commemorate 
him.  Such  are  not  attempted  here.  His  associates  at  the 
bar  unite  in  giving  him  a  high  place  among  them  for  the 
clearness  and  gravity  of  his  opinions,  his  balanced  judg 
ment  and  rigid  integrity  of  thought.  In  the  earlier  years 
of  his  practice  he  appeared  frequently  in  court.  For  a 
time  he  was  Assistant  District  Attorney  of  the  United 
States  under  Mr.  George  S.  Hillard.  From  1866  to  1870, 
together  with  Mr.  John  C.  Gray,  he  edited  the  Ameri 
can  Law  Review.  In  later  years  the  greatly  increased 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

trust  business  of  the  firm  was  chiefly  in  his  hands  and 
engrossed  the  larger  portion  of  his  time. 

In  general,  it  may  be  said  of  Mr.  Ropes,  that  while  he 
had  a  profound  interest  in  the  law  and  enjoyed  its  prac 
tice,  entering  with  keen  zest  into  the  trial  of  such  cases 
as  he  took  up,  yet  his  profession  never  monopolized  the 
activities  of  his  mind.  His  other  intellectual  interests 
kept  a  full  place  beside  it,  or  even  a  superior  one.  As  a 
lawyer  he  was  hardly  ambitious,  except  for  thorough 
ness  of  fundamental  knowledge  and  the  excellence  of 
his  actual  work.  He  left  his  profession  at  his  office ;  and, 
as  time  went  on,  while  its  own  claims  became  more  ex 
acting,  on  the  other  hand  his  practical  application  to 
other  subjects  became  more  engrossing.  His  profes 
sional  day  was  long.  His  evenings  and  holidays  were 
more  and  more  exclusively  devoted  to  historical  study 
and  the  composition  of  his  successive  books. 

The  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War  began  a  period  which 
was,  for  Mr.  Ropes,  not  only,  in  common  with  all  pa 
triotic  men,  one  of  absorbing  practical  interest,  but  of 
peculiar  personal  experience. 

As  has  been  remarked,  his  reading  and  thinking  had 
been,  even  from  his  boyhood,  rather  closely  specialized, 
and  particularly  in  the  direction  of  history  and  military 
affairs.1  He  was  thoroughly  versed  in  our  national  his 
tory,  and  deeply  interested  in  the  constitutional  ques 
tions  which  had  been  long  fiercely  debated  and  were  hi 

1  The  early  addiction  of  his  mind  to  these  subjects  may  possibly  be  traced 
to  certain  particular  impressions.  He  records  how  deeply  he  was  affected, 
while  still  in  London  and  before  his  fifth  year,  by  "relations  of  the  Chinese 
war,  and  the  dreadful  massacre  of  the  English  in  Afghanistan."  The  guns 
tfired  in  honor  of  Queen  Victoria's  marriage,  of  which  it  pleased  him  to  re 
call  the  echoes,  no  doubt  stimulated  his  childish  imagination. 

[13] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

1861  submitted  to  the  arbitrament  of  physical  strife. 
His  patriotic  ardor  was  high.  He  was  full  of  the  energy 
and  activity,  and  possessed  the  force  and  steadfastness 
and  also  the  courage  and  resolution  of  the  good  soldier. 
In  mental  and  moral  respects  he  was  singularly  fitted 
for  distinction  in  a  military  career.  Had  it  been  physi 
cally  possible  for  him,  he  would  have  joined  the  great 
throng  of  young  men  like  himself  who,  in  the  pure 
spirit  of  duty,  poured  forth  to  the  defence  of  the  Union. 
He  would  have  carried  with  him  a  technical  interest  in 
military  operations  with  which  but  few  entered  upon 
their  campaigns. 

But  the  bodily  infirmity  which  has  been  alluded  to, 
while  it  had  little  influence  on  his  career  in  civil  life, 
was  an  insuperable  impediment  in  the  way  of  military 
service.  The  disappointment  to  him,  as  a  patriot  and  as 
a  student  of  military  science,  was  doubtless  more  acute 
than  any  one  but  himself  ever  knew.  To  accept  the  in 
evitable  with  composure  and  cheerfulness  was  peculiarly 
characteristic  of  him.1  To  his  most  intimate  friends  he 
scarcely  confided  the  regret  which,  had  he  permitted  it, 
would  have  so  deeply  affected  him.  But  as  a  spectator 
of  events  in  which  he  would  willingly  have  been  a  par 
ticipant,  Mr.  Ropes  followed  the  whole  course  of  the 

1  In  the  biographical  fragment  Mr.  Ropes  thus  expresses  his  feelings  when 
the  nature  of  his  spinal  trouble  was  clearly  made  known  to  him.  "I  thought 
it  rather  a  dismal  situation  for  me}  obliged  to  leave  school  for  an  indejinite 
time,  and  deformed  into  the  bargain.  But  although  I  soon  gave  up  the  hope 
of  becoming  in  time  straight  again,  I  took  comfort  in  the  consideration  that 
my  health — a  blessing  often  denied  to  persons  in  my  condition — was  now 
fairly  good,  and  I  gave  up  desponding  as  useless  and  uncalled  for."  This 
was  the  spirit  in  which  he  always  met  the  adverse  element  in  experience.  The 
deformity,  as  he  calls  it,  was  a  lateral  curvature  of  the  spine,  having  little 
effect  upon  his  figure  except  to  lower  his  stature. 

(  14] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

war  with  a  minute  watchfulness  which  was  almost  that 
of  a  professional  observer.  Probably  no  man  in  the  coun 
try  possessed  himself  more  thoroughly  of  the  details  of 
the  operations  of  both  the  armies.  He  observed  the  un 
folding  strategy  of  both  with  the  acumen  of  the  military 
critic  and  the  anxiety  of  the  patriot.  His  judgment  of 
our  leaders  was  perspicacious  and  strict.  When  a  cele 
brated  general,  failing  in  the  vigorous  offensive  expected 
of  him,  and  having  with  great  but  futile  exertions  trans 
ferred  his  army  to  an  ineffective  position,  announced  by 
telegraph  "The  army  is  safe,"  "Safe!"  exclaimed  Mr. 
Ropes;  "it  would  be  safe  on  Boston  Common!"  His 
solicitude  and  interest  led  him  to  make  several  journeys 
to  the  seat  of  war,  where  he  spent  some  time  in  camp 
with  his  friends.  Of  the  Twentieth  Massachusetts,  to 
which,  with  many  personal  friends,  his  brother  Henry 
belonged,  Mr.  Ropes  was  almost  a  member,  so  close 
were  his  relations  with  it.  After  the  war  he  was  chosen 
an  associate  member  of  their  permanent  organization.1 
With  other  soldiers  and  officers  of  distinction  his  inti 
macies  became  numerous,  extending,  after  the  war,  to 
many  distinguished  Confederates.  The  justness  of  his 
mind,  which  singularly  defended  him  from  prejudice  on 
all  subjects,  made  him  capable  of  appreciating  the  mo 
tives  and  sentiments  of  individuals  on  the  disunion  side, 
and  of  weighing  the  soldierly  merits  of  their  leaders  and 
their  conduct  of  their  operations  with  a  candor  which 
won  their  high  respect. 

But  Mr.  Ropes's  apprehension  of  the  radical  impor 
tance  of  the  questions  at  issue  in  the  Civil  War  was 
profound,  and  he  was  a  vigorous  defender  of  the  logic  of 

1  The  memorial  of  Mr.  Ropes  adopted  by  the  Twentieth  Regiment  Associa 
tion  is  printed  on  pages  93-94- 

[15] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

the  Union  position,  as  he  was  ardent  in  its  practical  sup 
port.  "On  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  were  there 
thirteen  nations  or  one  nation?"  was  a  form  into  which 
he  was  wont  to  condense  the  argument. 

In  1876  his  deep  scientific  interest  in  the  war  as  a  mili 
tary  event,  and  the  sense  of  the  importance  of  preserv 
ing  its  historical  details  with  fulness  and  accuracy,  led 
Mr.  Ropes  to  propose  the  organization  of  the  Military 
Historical  Society  of  Massachusetts,  and  to  the  work  of 
this  association  he  gave  great  attention  so  long  as  he 
lived.  He  was  always  its  leading  spirit,  and  its  delight 
ful  meetings  were  for  many  seasons  held  in  his  house. 
At  them  he  used  the  advantage  of  his  wide  personal 
acquaintance  to  bring  together  a  great  number  of  dis 
tinguished  officers,  whose  essays  became  of  the  highest 
value  as  records  of  fact  and  criticisms  of  military  opera 
tions.  Not  a  few  officers  of  the  former  Confederate  army 
accepted  the  agreeable  hospitality  of  the  Society  and  con 
tributed  papers.  From  the  large  amount  of  material  ac 
cumulated,  several  volumes  have  been  published.  The 
opening  article  in  the  first  volume  was  by  Mr.  Ropes, 
on  "The  Peninsular  Campaign  of  General  McClellan  in 
1862."  Other  publications  of  his  relating  to  the  Civil 
War  are,  "The  Army  under  Pope,"  in  Scribner's  series 
on  "The  Campaigns  of  the  Civil  War";  an  article  on 
"The  Battle  of  Gettysburg,"  in  the  Atlantic  Monthly 
for  December,  1886;  in  the  same  magazine  for  April, 
1887,  "General  McClellan";  in  the  Harvard  Monthly 
for  May,  1887,  "A  Few  Words  about  Secession";  in 
June,  1891,  in  Scribner's  Magazine,  "The  War  as  we 
See  it  Now";  and  in  August,  1891,  in  the  same  periodi 
cal,  "General  Sherman." 

It  was  natural  that  a  writer  so  competent  and  well 

[16] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

equipped  should  be  looked  to  for  a  history  of  the  great 
war;  and  in  1891  or  1892  Mr.  Ropes  was  induced  to  un 
dertake  the  task  of  reviewing  its  events,  chiefly  from  the 
standpoint  of  military  criticism.  The  title1  of  the  work 
on  which  he  thus  became  engaged,  and  which  occupied 
him  during  the  remainder  of  his  life,  was  infelicitous, 
since  it  implied,  rather,  a  descriptive  and  popular  narra 
tive.  The  two  volumes,  which  were  all  he  was  permitted 
to  complete,  and  which  cover  about  one  half  of  the  pe 
riod  of  the  war,  are  a  monument  to  his  ability  as  a  stu 
dent  of  military  affairs,  and  to  the  remarkable  impar 
tiality  with  which  his  judicial  mind  was  able  to  treat  a 
variety  of  questions  which  have  involved  much  dispute 
and  personal  feeling. 

The  same  thoroughness  of  information,  acumen  in  the 
examination  of  evidence,  clearness  of  historical  state 
ment  and  in  argument,  which  give  to  the  fragment  of 
Mr.  Ropes's  great  work  its  distinction,  had  already  been 
exhibited  in  his  Napoleonic  writings.  It  was  some  years 
before  he  went  to  college  that  his  interest  in  historical 
subjects  was  particularly  determined  to  the  career  of 
Bonaparte,2  in  regard  to  which  he  became  one  of  the 
leading  authorities  of  the  world.  His  successive  writings 
on  the  subject  were,  "Who  Lost  Waterloo?"  in  the 
Atlantic  Monthly  for  June,  1881;  in  Scribner's  Maga 
zine,  for  June  and  July,  1887,  two  articles  entitled 
"Some  Illustrations  of  Napoleon  and  his  Times";  and 
in  the  same  periodical  for  March  and  April,  1888,  two 
on  "The  Campaign  of  Waterloo."  In  1885  appeared  his 
volume  on  "The  First  Napoleon";  and  in  1892  his  elab- 

1  "The  Story  of  the  Civil  War." 

2  He  ascribed  the  JLrst  awakening  of  this  special  interest  to  the  reading  of 
John  S.  C.  Abbott's  "Life  of  Napoleon"  when  about Jifteen  years  old. 

[17] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

orate  work  on  "The  Campaign  of  Waterloo,"  with  a 
valuable  atlas. 

Mr.  Ropes's  ardent  interest  in  Napoleon's  career  has 
sometimes  been  referred  to  as  partaking  of  the  character 
of  hero-worship.  This  inference  is  exceedingly  far  from 
the  truth.  His  admiration  for  Napoleon  was  limited  very 
strictly  to  a  profound  appreciation  of  his  vast  intellectual 
endowments,  and  his  unparalleled  executive  ability  and 
power  over  men.  He  also  did  full  justice  to  the  career 
of  Napoleon  in  its  liberalizing  influence  on  the  political 
condition  of  western  Europe. 

But  for  the  man  himself  Mr.  Ropes  had  a  strong  re 
pugnance  and  he  never  gave  serious  attention  to  his  per 
sonal  history  or  the  questions  arising  out  of  it.  With  the 
details  of  Napoleon's  life  he  was,  of  course,  sufficiently 
acquainted;  but  he  always  passed  them  by  with  that 
power  of  dismissing  unuseful  matter  from  his  attention 
for  which  he  was  distinguished.  He  was  apt  to  sum  up 
Napoleon's  private  character  in  a  sentence  which  inti 
mated  his  feeling  towards  him, — "Napoleon  was  not  a 
gentleman." 

But  the  great  game  of  war  which  Napoleon  was  capa 
ble  of  playing  with  supreme  ability  had  intense  interest 
for  Mr.  Ropes,  and  he  followed  it  in  the  careers  of  the 
great  generals  of  ancient  and  modern  days  with  minute 
attention  and  thorough  intelligence.  Undoubtedly,  in 
Caesar's  or  Napoleon's  or  Wellington's  career  it  also  pro 
foundly  stimulated  his  imagination;  yet  it  was  not  the 
stir  of  its  events  but  the  logical  processes  guiding  warfare 
which  engaged  Mr.  Ropes's  interest.  For  war,  as  a  moral 
fact,  he  had  a  deep  philanthropic  abhorrence,  and  as  a 
means  of  arbitrament  between  peoples,  even  a  certain 
contempt.  "It  is  the  most  clumsy  of  all  instruments,  and 

[18] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

no  man  can  tell  what  it  will  issue  in,"  he  used  to  say. 
The  responsibility  of  initiating  warfare  he  viewed  with 
deep  moral  seriousness,  and  his  condemnation  of  those 
leaders  of  peoples  who  have  wantonly  entered  upon  it 
could  not  be  exceeded  in  forcibleness.  He  never  pretended 
to  excuse  President  Cleveland,  whose  administration  he 
had  heartily  upheld  in  its  general  course,  for  his  action 
on  the  Venezuela  question.  The  horror  and  wickedness 
of  a  war  between  the  United  States  and  England  rose 
before  a  mind  profoundly  capable  of  appreciating  what 
it  would  have  been  in  colors  so  lurid  that  they  never 
faded.  "I  shall  never  forgive  him,  never"  he  repeatedly 
declared. 

He  strongly  disapproved  our  entering  upon  war 
with  Spain  in  1898,  believing  that  its  objects  might  and 
should  have  been  attained  by  the  diplomatic  measures 
in  progress  when  it  was  hurried  on.  He  regarded  it  as  a 
politician's  movement,  and  considered  the  humane  justi 
fications  pleaded  to  be  unsound  and  sensational.  The  ap 
peals  made  to  the  patriotic  instincts  of  our  young  men 
at  this  time,  he  strongly  deprecated  as  unfounded  and 
misleading.  Still  more  heartily  he  condemned  the  course 
of  our  administration  in  regard  to  the  Philippines;  re 
garding  the  conquest  of  those  islands  as  a  wanton  assault 
upon  the  rights  of  a  people  whose  independence  we  should 
have  respected  and  maintained.  The  "imperialistic"  pol 
icy  of  the  administration  he  regarded  as  in  violation  of 
the  principles  of  our  Constitution,  and  dangerously  revo 
lutionary.  He  declined  to  attend  the  dinner  given  in 
Boston  to  President  McKinley,  holding  him  responsible 
for  leading  us  into  what  he  deemed  a  false  and  perilous 
course. 

It  must  be  admitted  that  in  regard  to  our  political 

[19] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

condition  and  prospects  Mr.  Ropes  had  become  seriously 
discouraged.  The  persistent  and  never-lessening  corrup 
tions  of  our  politics,  the  rise  of  "bosses,"  the  increasing 
tendency  to  the  centralization  of  power,  the  usurpations 
of  recent  administrations,  inspired  in  him  grave  solici 
tude  as  to  the  permanency  of  our  democratic  experiment, 
and  even  as  to  the  general  practicability  of  republican 
institutions  under  existing  moral  and  social  conditions. 
He  entertained  the  doubt  whether  such  institutions,  in 
presence  of  the  temptations  offered  to  fraud  in  their 
conduct,  did  not  exact,  normally,  from  the  honest  pri 
vate  citizen  a  greater  sacrifice  of  time  and  pains  than 
the  average  man  could  afford  to  make. 

The  other,  and  by  far  the  deeper,  of  the  subjects  which 
engaged  the  lifelong  interest  of  Mr.  Ropes's  mind,  was 
theology.  Fostered  by  the  influences  of  home,  and  par 
ticularly  by  his  mother's  absorption  in  them,  religious 
questions  early  engaged  his  attention  on  their  intellect 
ual  side,  and  still  more  deeply  on  the  spiritual.  His  re 
ligious  instincts,  while  sober  and  practical,  were  strong 
and  fervent.  He  was  naturally  devotional,  and  kept  up 
the  simple  practices  of  childhood  and  youth,  in  this  re 
spect,  with  sincerity  and  deep  feeling,  to  his  latest  years. 
He  was,  at  all  periods  of  his  life,  a  constant  student  of 
theology,  and  his  mind  was  habitually  conversant  with 
its  themes.  He  long  meditated  a  series  of  essays  upon 
some  of  these,  which,  had  he  lived  to  complete  his  work 
upon  the  Civil  War,  he  would  probably  have  composed 
and  published.  Reared  under  orthodox  doctrinal  concep 
tions,  these  were  the  starting-point  of  his  thought,  and 
he  was  thoroughly  versed  in  their  logical  justifications. 
But  the  spirit  of  his  home  and  its  training  had  been  lib 
eral,  as  we  have  said,  and  from  the  outset  the  posture  of 

[20] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

his  mind  was  one  of  strict  independence.  His  thought 
steadily,  though  slowly,  developed  and  progressed.  All 
the  elements  of  the  doctrinal  system  in  which  he  was 
reared  underwent  the  rigid  scrutiny  of  his  own  reflections, 
and,  if  retained,  became  personal  convictions.  His  creed, 
as  time  went  on,  became  greatly  simplified,  relieved  of 
abstractions  and  doctrinal  subtleties.  Its  emphatic  note 
was  a  singularly  childlike  repose  in  the  goodness  and 
providence  of  God,  in  whom  he  rested  as  a  loving  Father, 
in  whose  benevolence  and  care  he  unreservedly  confided. 
The  great  advantages  and  privileges  he  had  personally 
enjoyed  were  habitually  seen  as  so  many  indications  of 
divine  paternal  love  and  watchfulness,  and  equally  of 
the  obligation  imposed  on  him  of  just  return,  in  the  tenor 
of  his  life  and  conduct,  for  the  peculiar  blessings  bestowed 
upon  him.  The  sense  of  God's  providence  was  an  inces 
sant  practical  motive  in  all  that  he  did,  and  a  perfect  sup 
port  in  all  that  he  endured  of  trial  and  affliction. 

On  one  of  his  European  journeys  he  was  stricken 
down,  quite  alone  and  in  a  remote  city,  where  at  the  time 
conveniences  for  the  welfare  of  the  sick  foreigner  were 
most  inadequately  provided.  When  he  realized  his  condi 
tion,  he  was  at  first  deeply  dismayed.  Then,  very  soon, 
the  thought  of  the  unfailing  goodness  of  God,  his  boun-* 
tiful  Heavenly  Father,  came  to  him;  he  recalled  his 
home,  his  parents,  the  singular  privileges  and  blessings 
of  his  lot,  and,  as  he  afterward  said,  his  mind  became 
and  remained  entirely  at  rest  as  to  the  situation  he  was 
in,  and  unanxious  as  to  its  issues. 

The  same  practical  religiousness  pervaded  all  his  active 
life,  and  was  deeply  involved  in  that  benevolence  which 
was  his  most  characteristic  trait  and  constant  habit.  No 
man  ever  more  fully  accepted  and  prosecuted  life  as  a 

[21  ] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

stewardship.  His  vigorous  judgment  was  not  often  ob 
scured,  but  it  was  incessantly  tempered  by  indulgent  pity 
for  misfortune  and  sympathy  with  the  manhood  which 
underlay  the  least  worthy  characters.  His  heart  grew 
constantly  more  tender,  and  with  increasing  means  his 
beneficence  became  more  and  more  extensive  and  varied. 
Remaining  unmarried,  he  was  on  principle  opposed  to 
the  accumulation  of  wealth,  and  he  scattered  his  income 
almost  with  lavishness.  He  was  not  much  attracted  to 
public  objects,  although  he  gave  generously  to  those 
brought  to  his  attention.  His  sympathies  went  out  more 
spontaneously  to  private  want  and  difficulty,  and  espe 
cially  he  loved  to  help  those  who  were  helping  themselves, 
—above  all,  to  assist  the  fortunes  of  promising  young 
men.  He  gave  the  time  which  was  so  valuable  to  him, 
his  advice  and  personal  care  and  pains,  as  unstintedly  as 
his  wealth.  His  patience  with  the  perverse  and  tiresome, 
his  tenderness  even  towards  grievous  offenders,  were  ex 
treme.  His  sympathy  with  the  most  humble  persons  was 
singularly  quick  and  natural,  and  free  from  condescen 
sion.  He  appreciated  his  own  station  in  life  and  valued 
the  advantages  of  the  class  to  which  he  belonged.  He 
was  not  careless  of  his  rights  or  of  the  obligations  of 
others  to  him,  but  exacted  somewhat  strictly  whatever 
it  was  the  duty  of  any  one  to  render  him.  But  where  re 
lations  were  personal,  he  easily  ignored  the  distinctions 
of  fortune  and  culture  and  saw  in  every  man  a  man.  He 
met  persons  of  all  classes — strangers,  officials,  his  coun 
try  neighbors,  tradesmen,  workmen,  his  own  employees 
and  domestics — with  an  ease  and  frankness  very  distinct 
from  careless  familiarity,  which  were  born  of  his  respect 
for  the  quality  of  manhood,  and  which  encouraged  con 
fidence  and  won  affection,  but  invited  nothing  but  re- 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

spect  for  himself.  He  put  every  one  at  his  ease,  yet  in 
the  most  intimate  relations  maintained  a  certain  reserve. 

This  native  dignity  peculiarly  influenced  the  young, 
and  made  their  intercourse  with  him  highly  improv 
ing.  His  affection  for  them  was  almost  intense;  they  had 
for  him  a  veritable  magnetism.  Their  companionship  re 
freshed  him ;  he  understood  their  feelings  and  the  work 
ings  of  their  minds,  and  met  them  upon  their  own  levels 
of  thought.  He  treated  them,  on  the  one  hand,  almost 
as  equals ;  yet  instinctively  he  imposed  on  them  a  respect 
which  they  were  never  tempted  to  violate.  In  a  mixed 
company  it  was  hard  for  him  to  confine  himself  to  their 
elders.  He  was  never  so  happy  as  when  he  gathered  chil 
dren  about  him  at  his  seaside  home,  or  had  a  group  of 
young  men  at  his  table,  or  in  his  study,  in  town.  Both 
of  his  houses  were  well  supplied  for  them  with  games, 
toys,  musical  instruments,  and  other  means  of  entertain 
ment.  He  loved  the  gayeties  of  the  young,  joined  in  their 
fun,  and  interested  himself  in  their  serious  pursuits.  In 
conversation  he  listened  to  their  opinions  with  a  defer 
ence  which  was  perfectly  sincere,  which  made  them  value 
their  own  mental  processes,  encouraged  genuine  think 
ing,  and  brought  out  manliness  and  womanliness  in  them. 
He  expressed  his  own  judgments  as  between  man  and 
man  with  unconscious  freedom,  and  so  naturally  as  not 
to  overbear  or  smother  theirs.  He  watched  narrowly  the 
unfolding  characters  of  those  with  whom  he  was  par 
ticularly  intimate,  losing  no  opportunity  for  the  sugges 
tions  of  moral  principle  or  practical  wisdom. 

This  gift  of  camaraderie  secured  to  Mr.  Ropes  an  al 
most  limitless  acquaintance  among  the  young.  He  re 
membered  all  their  names  and  the  particular  associations 
and  interests  of  each.  In  public  places  children  flocked 

[23] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

about  him  with  artless  confidence.  They  appeared  freely 
upon  his  summer  grounds  and  broad  verandahs,  sure  of  a 
welcome  and  appropriate  hospitality.  Young  men  loved 
to  pass  their  vacations  with  him,  equal  comrades  in  his 
out-of-door  pleasures,  and  spending  endless  evenings  in 
good  talk.  His  city  home  was  the  headquarters  of  not  a 
few  chosen  ones,  who  came  and  went  as  if  it  were  their 
own.  They  made  him  their  confidant,  carrying  to  him 
their  life-questions,  their  ambitions,  and  even  their  fol 
lies  and  errors.  How  many  he  assisted  with  wise  advice, 
with  considerate  suggestion,  with  frank  and  even  stern 
reproof  which  they  accepted  for  its  manifest  spirit  of 
affectionate  interest  in  their  welfare,  with  practical  fur 
therance  in  making  their  way  in  life,  with  loans  or  gifts 
of  money,  will  never  be  known. 

In  this  capacity  to  understand  and  reach  the  young, 
Mr.  Ropes  was  almost  unique,  and  it  furnished  him  con 
sciously  the  outgo  for  his  strong  domestic  affections 
which  his  bachelorhood  denied  him. 

Similar  traits  gave  to  Mr.  Ropes's  society  a  peculiar 
attraction  for  intelligent  women.  They  remarked  that  he 
never  "talked  down"  to  them,  but  always  as  to  equal 
minds,  whose  thought  he  was  ready  to  value,  not  hesitat 
ing  to  pay  it  the  respect  of  frankly  controverting  it  when 
he  differed.  A  wise  judgment  or  suggestive  idea  was  to 
him  the  most  valuable  thing  in  life,  for  which  he  waited, 
seeming  always  to  expect  it  from  his  interlocutor,  who 
ever  he  was. 

In  the  company  of  men,  the  clearness  and  thorough 
ness  of  his  own  thought,  his  perfect  candor,  and  his  con 
fidence  in  others,  with  a  certain  briskness  of  manner  and 
some  fondness  for  the  vernacular,  gave  to  Mr.  Ropes's 
conversation  a  tone  of  positiveness  which  may  have  ap- 

[24] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

peared  at  times  as  dogmatic.  It  was  not  so  in  spirit.  His 
one  object  in  discussion  was  the  determination  of  the 
truth.  He  loved  to  clarify  questions.  It  troubled  him  to 
see  another  groping  for  truth,  or  laboring  in  what  seemed 
to  him  error,  when  light  was  to  be  had.  He  would  work 
hard  to  convince,  but  he  never  sought  to  overbear  an 
other's  mind.  Good  talk  was  his  greatest  enjoyment.  He 
was  at  his  best  with  a  single  congenial  friend  in  the  late 
hours  of  the  evening.  At  such  times  the  gravity,  penetra 
tion,  elevation,  and  impressiveness  of  his  conversation 
upon  important  themes  raised  it  to  the  highest  levels. 
He  did  not  possess  wit  or  humor  in  himself,  although 
peculiarly  appreciative  of  those  qualities  in  others;  nor 
had  he  largely  the  gift  of  intuition  except  as  experience 
and  sympathy  gave  him  marked  insight  into  character. 
His  forte  was  in  clearness  of  reasoning,  impelled  by  the 
warmest  moral  earnestness.  His  thought  was  eminently 
practical.  He  disliked  mere  theories  and  fine-spun  argu 
ment.  His  views  were  large  and  sound.  But  he  was  in 
the  best  sense  an  idealist,  from  his  absolute  confidence 
in  truth  and  his  constant  effort,  in  secret  and  public,  to 
attain  it.  And  what  he  attained  he  with  unsurpassed  fi 
delity  made  the  law  of  his  thought  and  conduct.  To  fun 
damental  moral  principles  he  was  rigorously  loyal.  His 
religious  ideas  were  the  inspiration  and  practical  incen 
tive  of  his  daily  life. 

Mr.  Ropes  was  highly  social  in  disposition,  readily  be 
came  a  friend,  and  few  private  men  were  more  widely 
known  in  his  own  city  and  throughout  the  country.  In 
his  earlier  years  he  appeared  much  in  general  society,  but 
large  companies  became  distasteful  to  him  from  their 
aimlessness  and  superficiality.  Similarly,  he  never  greatly 
enjoyed  the  ordinary  life  of  clubs,  although  he  belonged 

[25] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

to  a  number,  as  the  Union,  of  which  he  was  long  an  of 
ficer,  the  St.  Botolph  and  the  Puritan,  in  Boston;  the 
University  and  the  Harvard,  of  New  York;  and  the 
University,  of  Philadelphia.  His  membership  in  the  an 
cient  Wednesday  Club  he  valued  highly,  and  he  very 
constantly  attended  its  conversational  reunions.  A  fel 
low-member  writes:  "Our  meetings  will  never  be  the 
same  to  me,  now  that  Ropes  is  gone.  I  feel  as  if  the 
Club  had  lost  its  inspiring  genius." 

It  is  true  that,  entirely  modest  and  singularly  uncon 
scious  of  self,  the  masculine  force  that  was  in  him,  his 
clear  intelligence,  and  perfect  frankness  in  the  expres 
sion  of  his  opinions,  gave  him  something  of  leadership 
in  most  societies. 

But  Mr.  Ropes  always  liked  best  the  intercourse  of 
the  dinner-table,  for  its  mingled  good  cheer  and  oppor 
tunity  of  pleasant  conversation.  A  remarkable  sodality 
owes  its  origin  to  his  instinct  in  this  respect.  Early  in 
the  winter  after  graduation,  he  proposed  to  a  number 
of  his  classmates  that  the  exceptionally  happy  associa 
tions  of  their  college  life  should  be  maintained  by  a 
monthly  dinner  together.  They  met  for  the  first  time, 
on  his  invitation,  about  the  generous  table  of  his  father's 
house,  where  he  was  still  living.  The  informal  organiza 
tion  which  thus  arose  became  the  "Jacobite  Club,"  as  it 
was  presently  called  in  jocose  allusion  to  his  own  Chris 
tian  name.  Its  delightful  meetings,  full  of  wit  and  hu 
mor,  of  frank  discussion,  good-fellowship  and  ever-grow 
ing  mutual  affection,  have  never  been  intermitted  during 
more  than  forty  years.  They  were  to  Ropes,  as  they  have 
been  to  all  its  members,  the  choicest  of  social  occasions, 
which  no  one,  least  of  all  its  "Founder,"  ever  willingly 
missed. 

[26] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

What  such  associations  may  mean  to  a  serious  man, 
Ropes  himself  testified.  He  once  said,  "I  had  rather 
have  the  confidence  and  respect  of  the  Jacobite  Club 
than  any  reward  the  rest  of  the  world  could  give  me." 

Of  his  own  agreeable  dining-room  the  hospitalities 
were  incessant.  The  material  feast  was  simple  though 
elegant;  the  spirit  of  the  occasion  was  always  uncon 
strained  and  cheerful.  He  gathered  about  his  table  the 
widest  variety  of  guests.  Persons  eminent  in  many  walks 
continually  sat  there.  One  form  of  thoughtfulness  was 
habitual  with  him.  When  he  expected  guests  of  distinc 
tion  and  accomplishments,  he  was  apt  to  invite  among 
them  promising  young  men,  to  be  stimulated  and  in 
structed  by  such  society.  On  Sunday  evenings,  as  was 
well  known  to  his  young  friends,  his  less  formal  dinner 
was  always  open  to  any  who  should  come  in,  self-invited, 
and  a  group  of  such  were  usually  there.  They  were  fre 
quently  there,  also,  by  casual  invitation,  on  other  even 
ings,  and  the  freshness  of  young  life,  their  lively  talk 
and  animated  discussions,  their  songs,  in  which  he  loved 
to  join,  their  affection  and  confidence  in  him,  made  his 
house  a  home  for  himself  and  for  them.  They  were 
aware  of  the  hour  at  which  he  wished  to  retire  to  his 
study,  and  departed  contented  and  happy.  He  knew 
how  to  be  father  and  brother  to  them.  Many  collegians 
and  other  youths  from  a  distance  came  to  him,  recom 
mended  by  parents  or  friends,  and  for  these  he  always 
accepted  a  serious  responsibility  and  gave  them  his 
watchful  care.  His  last  guest,  on  the  evening  of  his 
lamented  seizure,  was  a  young  student,  recently  intro 
duced  to  him,  who  dined  with  Mr.  Ropes  alone. 

For  a  few  years  after  his  entrance  upon  professional 
life,  Mr.  Ropes  remained  a  member  of  his  father's  family 

[27] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

in  their  ample  home  at  92  Beacon  Street.  On  his  father's 
death,  in  1869,  he  removed  with  his  mother  and  sister 
to  99  Mount  Vernon  Street,  where  he  lived  until  Octo 
ber,  1873.  After  the  death  of  his  mother  in  that  year,  he 
made  a  prolonged  visit  to  Europe,  in  company  with  his 
sister  and  other  friends,  on  return  from  which  he  estab 
lished  himself  in  bachelor-quarters  at  53  Temple  Street. 
In  October,  1883,  he  again  occupied  his  house  in  Mount 
Vernon  Street,  and  it  continued  his  city  home  until  his 
death. 

In  the  same  year,  1883,  he  bought  land  at  York  Har 
bor,  Maine,  and  built  a  house,  which  he  called  the  "Villa 
Tranquille,"  a  name  which  he  had  remarked  on  a  house 
in  Mentone,  and  mentally  appropriated.1  Here,  except 
when  he  went  abroad  for  his  vacation,  he  spent  all  his 
remaining  summers,  and  the  "Villa"  became  a  centre  of 
easy  hospitality.  He  kept  it  full,  chiefly  of  young  guests, 
but  older  friends  and  many  persons  of  distinction  were 
entertained.  His  delightful  afternoon  dinners  brought 
together  cottage  neighbors,  friends  from  adjacent  towns, 
litterateurs,  officers  of  the  army  and  navy,  mingled  old 

1  The  inscription  which  he  placed  over  the  door  of  the  Villa  Tranquille,  from 
the  beginning  of  the  Vlth  Satire  of  Horace  (Book  II. ),  was  highly  charac 
teristic  :  — 

"Hoc  erat  in  votis;  modus  agri  non  ita  magnus 
Hortus  ubi  et  tecto  vicinusjugis  aqua?  Jons , 
Et  paullum  silvce  super  hisforet.  Auctius  atque 
Di  melius  fecere.  Bene  est.  Nil  amplius  oro, 
Maia  nate,  nisi  ut  propria  hcec  mihi  munerafaxis." 

An  occurrence  in  connection  with  this  inscription  greatly  amused  Mr.  Ropes. 
An  old  and  somewhat  seedy  wayfarer  having  been  invited  upon  the  verandah 
during  a  shower,  recognized  the  verses  at  once,  and  with  hearty  appreciation 
exclaimed,  "Ah!  so  old  Flaccus  has  been  here  with  his  jack-knife,  has  he?" 
Mr.  Ropes  used  to  say  that  this  incident  made  it  worth  while  to  have  built 
the  house. 

[28] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

and  young.  For  the  boys  and  girls  he  gave  large  evening 
parties,  with  music  and  dancing,  to  which  swarmed  the 
whole  youthful  population,  in  response  to  his  informal 
invitations,  given  personally  as  he  moved  among  them 
in  his  morning  strolls  upon  the  beach.  The  evening  of 
the  Fourth  of  July  was  the  occasion  of  an  annual  fete, 
with  fireworks  and  balloons,  never  omitted  until  1898, 
after  which  he  would  not  seem  by  such  a  celebration  to 
be  approving  the  course  of  our  Administration  in  the 
Spanish  and  Philippine  wars.  His  own  particular  diver 
sion  was  croquet,  to  which  he  gave  many  happy  hours. 
Besides  this,  his  only  exercise  was  walking,  of  which  at 
all  seasons  he  was  very  fond,  and  which  in  early  years 
he  extended  to  distances  of  many  miles.  His  vacations 
were  short — of  six  weeks  only — but  that  time  he  gave 
wholly  to  recreation.  He  would  have  no  avoidable  asso 
ciations  with  work  about  the  "V.  T.,"  as  it  was  familiarly 
called,  and  interdicted  any  but  the  most  pressing  com 
munications  from  his  office.  He  returned  to  town  before 
the  close  of  August,  finding  the  late  weeks  of  summer 
a  favorable  time  for  progress  upon  the  successive  volumes 
in  the  preparation  of  which  he  became  engaged. 

In  the  prosecution  of  his  literary  work  Mr.  Ropes's 
habits  were,  as  in  other  matters,  laborious,  but  free  from 
nervous  intensity.  His  library  of  special  authorities  was 
large,  but  he  collected  little  material  in  the  form  of  mem 
oranda.  His  knowledge  of  his  subjects  was  so  thorough, 
even  lesser  details  were  carried  so  clearly  in  his  photo 
graphic  memory,  the  subjects  he  dealt  with  had  been 
so  long  considered,  that  he  used  singularly  little  of  the 
apparatus  of  the  writer,  besides  his  pen.  His  care  to  en 
sure  final  accuracy  by  reference  to  authorities  was,  how 
ever,  unwearied  and  minute.  His  visits  to  Europe  had 

[29] 


JOHN  CODMAN  HOPES 

given  him  opportunity  to  explore  important  localities 
connected  with  the  career  of  Napoleon,  and  he  had,  in 
like  manner,  traversed  and  inspected  many  of  those  as 
sociated  with  the  Civil  War.  He  wrote  slowly,  with  un 
sparing  revision,  having  successive  portions  of  his  work 
returned  to  him  in  type- written  copies,  for  the  greater 
freedom  of  criticism.  Of  the  first  volume  of  his  history 
of  the  Civil  War  he  even  had  a  small  edition  privately 
printed,  in  advance,  to  be  subjected  to  the  criticism  of 
a  number  of  his  friends.  To  his  labor  on  his  books,  he 
added  that  of  a  large  correspondence  elicited  by  them, 
to  which  he  gave  prompt  and  conscientious  attention. 
Much  of  this  was  with  former  officers  of  the  Southern 
Confederacy.  He  was  in  communication,  also,  with  nu 
merous  military  authorities  abroad,  and  became  the  re 
cipient  of  agreeable  personal  attentions  from  them  dur 
ing  his  European  visits. 

Of  these,  Mr.  Ropes  made  many.  Besides  the  longer 
ones  of  his  earlier  years,  it  became  his  custom  frequently 
to  spend  his  summers  in  England  and  on  the  Continent. 
Strongly  addicted  to  habit  in  his  personal  life,  and  enjoy 
ing  home  comfort,  he  equally  loved  variety,  and  adapted 
himself  to  the  incidents  of  journeying  with  a  good  hu 
mor  which  made  him  the  best  of  travelling-companions. 
For  the  sea  and  its  associations  he  had  an  inherited  love. 
His  literary  culture  and  wide  historical  information,  his 
delight  in  nature  and  generous  appreciation  of  the  arts, 
with  a  vein  of  youthful  romance  which  never  failed  him, 
kept  him  susceptible  to  the  interest  of  every  situation. 

On  one  of  his  European  journeys  he  amused  his  lei 
sure  by  collecting  and  collating  all  attainable  portraits 
of  Julius  Caesar,  an  account  of  which  he  later  published 
in  one  of  the  magazines. 

[30] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

Although  he  attained  honorable  distinction  in  litera 
ture  and  as  an  authority  in  the  military  art,  the  life  of 
Mr.  Ropes  remained  characteristically  that  of  a  private 
man;  and  its  comprehensive  suggestion  is  of  the  widely 
reaching  effect  which  such  a  life  may  exert.  Ready  to 
accept  responsibility  at  the  call  of  duty,  he  was  by  tem 
perament  averse  from  public  functions.  He  loved  the  in 
dependence  of  the  private  station,  and  appreciated  and 
preferred  personal  intercourse  as  the  effective  channel 
of  his  influence  upon  his  time.  He  discharged  for  many 
years  the  office  of  a  Vestryman  of  Trinity  Church,  and 
he  was  for  one  or  two  terms  an  Overseer  of  Harvard 
University.  But  while  at  all  times  profoundly  interested 
in  public  affairs,  thinking  and  conversing  upon  them 
with  characteristic  energy  and  clearness,  and  possessing, 
indeed,  in  his  practical  judgment,  his  knowledge  of  men, 
and  his  power  of  effective  speaking,  some  of  the  best 
qualifications  for  public  life,  he  entered  the  field  of  ac 
tive  politics  only  during  the  campaign  of  1876,  when  he 
accepted  the  position  of  President  of  the  Bristow  Club, 
and  made  speeches  in  various  parts  of  the  State. 

Mr.  Ropes's  personal  tastes  and  habits  were  most 
simple.  His  wants  were  few.  He  loved  to  be  bountiful, 
and  needed  comfort,  but  he  had  no  disposition  to  luxury. 
His  private  meals  were  almost  frugal.  He  slept  long  and 
soundly  and  arose  late.  But  he  habitually  extended  the 
evening  hours,  which  he  best  loved,  to  midnight,  or  will 
ingly,  if  he  had  good  company,  far  beyond  it.  He  reserved 
an  hour  or  more,  before  retiring,  for  personal  reading. 
This  was  often  only  recreative,  but  usually  it  was  serious 
and  devotional.  Throughout  life,  he  was  a  diligent  stu 
dent  of  the  New  Testament  and  its  literature,  and  with 
this  he  seems  usually  to  have  ended  his  day.  His  favorite 

[81  ] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

edition  of  the  Testament  contained  both  the  Greek  and 
the  English  texts,  and  the  two  were  habitually  compared. 
Well-worn  books  of  devotion  always  lay  beside  the  vol 
ume.  For  the  character  and  thought  of  Jesus,  Mr.  Ropes 
entertained  a  profound  and  sympathetic  reverence,  and 
he  came  more  and  more  to  deplore  that  their  simplicity 
had  been  so  deeply  complicated  by  the  subtleties  of  the 
ology.  In  the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul  he  always  found  great 
suggestiveness,  and  he  was  thoroughly  versed  in  the  great 
Apostle's  ideas  and  arguments.  The  theological  system, 
however,  in  which  his  youth  had  been  trained,  and  which 
was  so  largely  founded  upon  apostolic  thought,  lost  most 
of  its  hold  upon  his  mind,  as  it  matured. 

Mr.  Ropes  continued  in  the  exercise  of  his  profession 
to  .the  end.  For  the  prosecution  of  his  literary  work,  he 
latterly  reserved  to  himself  one  or  two  days  of  the  week, 
and  he  also  gave  up  much  of  his  forensic  practice,  as  the 
property  trusts  of  his  firm,  of  which  he  was  especially  in 
charge,  exacted  more  of  his  time.  He  reached  his  office 
at  nearly  mid-forenoon,  but  remained  there  till  late  af 
ternoon,  reserving  only  time  for  his  walk  before  dinner. 
His  evenings,  which  in  former  years  were  largely  given 
to  society,  were  latterly  devoted  chiefly  to  the  compo 
sition  of  his  books.  But  his  intimate  friends  knew  that 
when  the  night  had  far  enough  waned,  they  were  sure 
of  his  welcome,  and  of  the  inspiration  of  his  cheerful, 
wise,  and  well-ordered  talk. 

So  passed  among  us  a  thoroughly  genuine,  earnest, 
serviceable,  well-balanced,  religious,  manly  life;  a  life 
founded  in  conscious  loyalty  to  God,  permeated  by  the 
sense  of  duty,  and  directed  and  warmed  by  love  for  men. 
Its  many  personal  advantages  were  used,  with  singular 
fidelity,  as  talents  lent.  Its  disadvantages  were  compen- 

[32  ] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

sated  by  a  willing  and  philosophical  acceptance  of  them, 
and  the  resolute  appropriation  of  every  source  of  strength 
and  usefulness.  It  was  recognized  as  a  high  moral  privi 
lege;  devoted  steadily  to  self-improvement;  unweariedly 
consecrated  to  the  service  of  fellow-men. 

John  Codman  Ropes  was  a  highly  characteristic  ex 
ample  of  the  best  possible  issues  of  the  ideas  and  princi 
ples  which  have  underlain  and  shaped  the  civilization  of 
New  England.  Robust  in  conscientiousness,  tolerant  but 
firm  in  conviction,  self-reliant,  virile,  idealistic  but  prac 
tical,  he  was  gentle,  affectionate,  charitable,  domestic, 
public-spirited, — a  truly  righteous  man.  His  temper  was 
serene  and  equable,  free  from  self-indulgence,  cheerful 
in  the  enjoyment  of  life's  pleasant  things,  but  singularly 
pure,  unexacting,  tender,  and  kind.  As  a  citizen  his  pa 
triotism  was  ardent  but  discriminating;  he  would  have 
his  country  magnanimous,  her  institutions  just,  their  ad 
ministration  pure.  He  loved  the  Church  and  its  rites,  and 
was  diligent  in  his  attendance  on  its  ministrations,  but 
was  independent  and  even  critical  in  thought,  and  in 
capable  of  the  sectarian  spirit.  Knowing  the  world  well, 
he  detested  its  evil,  but  a  wide  experience  made  him  in 
dulgent  in  his  judgment  of  individuals.  For  friendship, 
he  had  a  very  genius.  He  adapted  himself  by  instinct  to 
persons  of  every  class,  responding  quickly  to  their  sym 
pathies,  respectful  of  their  views,  prompt  to  serve  their 
interests.  The  humble  loved  him.  He  had  the  universal 
respect  of  his  equals  in  culture  and  associations.  Through 
his  own  candor  and  trustfulness  he  was  a  frank  censor 
of  conduct;  but  his  keen  insight,  his  balanced  judgment, 
his  power  of  sympathy  but  rigorous  uprightness,  made 
him  an  unequalled  adviser  of  the  young,  of  men  in  any 
kind  of  trouble,  of  the  erring  who  regretted  their  ways. 

[33] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

He  looked  for  good  in  all  men.  Only  of  insincerity,  im 
purity,  meanness,  pretence,  cruelty,  and  hardness  of  heart 
was  he  intolerant.  Even  for  the  animal  world  he  had  a 
singular  tenderness. 

Mr.  Ropes's  remarkable  vigor  of  mind  and  body  was 
continued  to  him,  unabated,  to  the  last.  The  closing  day 
of  his  conscious  life  was  characteristic  and  happy.  He 
went  to  his  office,  as  usual,  but  found  it,  from  some  re 
pairs,  in  disorder,  so  that  he  could  not  occupy  it.  He  had 
always  loved  a  holiday,  but  affected  disappointment  at 
being  debarred  from  his  desk.  He  jested  with  his  office- 
staff  on  their  disposition  to  exclude  him.  "Well,  I  see 
that  you  prefer  my  room  to  my  company,"  he  said,  and 
bade  them  what  was  his  last  kindly  farewell.  Returning 
to  his  home,  he  sent  for  his  secretary,  and  passed  the 
day  in  work  upon  his  history  of  the  Civil  War.  About 
five  in  the  afternoon  he  ceased  dictation,  saying,  "We 
have  had  a  happy  day,  have  we  not?  If  we  could  have  a 
year  of  such  days  as  this,  we  should  have  our  work  done." 

After  his  customary  hour  of  outdoor  exercise,  he  dined, 
as  has  been  stated,  with  a  single  guest,  a  young  student 
lately  introduced  to  his  acquaintance.  He  finished  the 
evening,  as  usual,  in  his  study,  but  retired  early.  He  was 
ready  for  bed  when  the  final  summons  came,  in  some 
symptom  which  caused  him  to  call  for  aid.  He  was  able 
to  indicate  that  he  was  seriously  ill,  and  to  lie  down 
without  help.  But  when,  in  half  an  hour,  his  physician 
arrived,  he  could  no  longer  articulate.  Physical  life  con 
tinued  four  days  longer,  but  for  him  this  world  was  no 
more.  He  breathed  his  last  on  October  28, 1899,  his  age 
being  sixty-three  years  and  six  months. 

It  was  the  beautiful,  painless  close  of  a  well-spent  life. 
With  health  arid  faculties  wholly  unimpaired,  in  the 

[34] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

midst  of  full  prosperity,  beloved  and  honored  of  all  men, 
he  laid  down  the  burden  and  the  joys  of  earthly  being. 

From  the  community  in  which  he  was  so  valuable, 
from  the  wide  circle  of  his  friends,  he  seemed  to  be  taken 
too  soon.  But  those  who  knew  him  best  and  loved  him 
most  will  not  begrudge  him  his  euthanasy. 


[35] 


ADDRESSES  DELIVERED  BEFORE 
THE  MASSACHUSETTS  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

IN 

COMMEMORATION  OF  JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 
NOVEMBER  9,  1899 


ADDRESS 
BY  CHARLES  FRANCIS  ADAMS 

OUR  associate  John  Codman  Ropes  died  at  his 
house  in  Boston  shortly  after  the  midnight  of 
Friday,  the  27th -28th  of  last  month.  His  brief 
illness  dated  from  the  previous  Monday  only.  I  make 
this  announcement  with  a  deep  sense  of  personal  loss, 
—the  sense  of  a  loss  which  can  never  be  made  good.  I 
shall  call  upon  others  to  pay  tribute  to  him, — I  cannot 
say  others  who  have  known  him  longer  or  even  better 
than  myself,  or  who  prized  his  friendship  more  highly; 
for  I  have  known  him  since  college  days,  close  upon  half 
a  century  ago,  and  known  him  well,  and  there  were  few 
indeed  whose  friendship  I  prized  more  highly.  But  I  was 
not  so  fortunate  as  to  be  a  member  of  the  class  of  1857, 
or  his  professional  brother.  Our  associate  Solomon  Lin 
coln  was  his  classmate  and  familiar  college  friend;  and 
another  of  our  associates  and  he  lived  long  together  in 
the  daily  contact  of  partners.  It  is  fitting  that  these  two 
should  now  put  on  lasting  record  in  our  Proceedings 
their  estimate  of  the  man  and  of  his  work.  I  shall  there 
fore  confine  myself  to  the  announcement  of  his  death, 
claiming  only  the  friend's  privilege  of  a  few  passing 
words. 

Mr.  Ropes  had  been  a  member  of  our  Society  for  more 
than  nineteen  years,  having  been  elected  at  the  June 
meeting  of  1880,  while  Mr.  Winthrop  was  still  its  Presi 
dent.  Our  friend  Dr.  Green,  now  our  Dean,  then  stood 
thirty-second  on  the  roll ;  and,  in  the  years  which  have 
since  intervened,  Mr.  Ropes  rose  almost  exactly  to  the 
position  which  Dr.  Green  held  when  Mr.  Ropes  was 

[  39] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

elected.  At  the  time  of  his  death  the  latter  stood  thirty- 
first  in  the  order  of  our  seniority.  Though  deeply  inter 
ested  and  very  eminent  in  his  particular  branch  of  histori 
cal  research,  Mr.  Ropes,  greatly  to  our  loss,  never  made 
himself  essentially  part  and  parcel  of  this  Society,  or 
participated  with  any  regularity  in  its  proceedings  or  its 
work.  The  reason  was  not  far  to  seek.  He  was  absorbed 
in  another  Society,  not  dissimilar  in  character,  the  Mili 
tary  Historical  Society  of  Massachusetts,  which  he  origi 
nated.  Of  it  he  was  the  soul,  and  in  his  judgment  that 
Society  had  greater  claims  upon  him.  Our  loss  was  its 
gain;  but  none  the  less  for  us  a  loss  much  to  be  de 
plored.  Had  it  so  chanced  that  Mr.  Ropes  had  identified 
himself  exclusively  with  our  organization  and  our  field 
of  work, — associating  himself  with  us  and  it, — he  would 
have  proved  one  of  the  most  valuable  and  fruitful  addi 
tions  ever  made  to  our  number ;  for,  a  hard  worker,  he 
also  was  essentially  what  Dr.  Johnson  called  "a  club 
bable  man,"  and,  being  such,  he  would  have  communi 
cated  to  us  a  distinct  impetus  long  perceptible.  As  it 
was,  we  saw  him  only  occasionally  at  our  meetings,  and 
heard  from  him  far  less  frequently  than  we  wished.  He 
was  here  on  the  13th  of  last  April,  when  he  did  me  the 
compliment  to  come  that  he  might  listen  to  the  address 
I  was  that  day  to  deliver;  and  it  is  now  matter  of  no 
little  satisfaction  to  me  that  it  then  came  in  my  way  to 
make  an  allusion  to  him  and  his  reputation  as  a  military 
critic,  which  the  audience  appreciated  in  hearty  fashion, 
giving  him  a  pleasure  he  did  not  hesitate  to  show. 
Otherwise,  through  his  nineteen  years  of  membership, 
we  have  seen  him  chiefly  when  tribute  was  to  be  ren 
dered  to  some  one  of  our  Society  who  had  done  service 
in  the  Rebellion,  or  when  a  military  theme  was  un- 

[40] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

derstood  to  be  likely  to  come  under  discussion.  He  thus 
paid  tributes  to  Generals  Palfrey,  Devens,  and  Walker ; 
of  the  first  two  of  whom,  also,  he  prepared  memoirs, 
published  in  our  Proceedings.  In  1887  he  also  furnished 
a  memoir  of  the  late  John  C.  Gray.  He  served  twice  on 
the  Committee  annually  appointed  to  nominate  officers ; 
and,  at  the  time  of  his  death,  was  a  member  of  the  Com 
mittee  on  Historical  Manuscripts. 

It  only  remains  for  me  to  say  a  few  words  of  a  friend. 
John  Ropes — for  in  this  connection  I  cannot  call  him 
Mr.  Ropes,  or  refer  to  him  formally  as  "our  associate" 
—was  as  genuine,  as  individual  a  man  as  it  has  been  my 
good  fortune  to  meet  in  life, — in  character  supremely 
attractive.  He  was  a  man  not  easy  to  portray.  There  was 
about  him  something  unexpected.  He  was  sui  generis, 
in  mind  as  in  body.  The  most  manly  of  men,  he  was  also 
at  times  childlike  in  his  frank,  outspoken  simplicity.  In 
him  the  social  side  was  strongly  developed.  He  loved 
to  talk ;  he  delighted  in  the  club  and  the  dinner- table ; 
he  was  hospitable  to  a  degree ;  he  was  kind  and  sympa 
thetic  and  thoughtful  of  others.  Delightfully  illogical,  a 
keen  critic  in  his  way,  despising  cant  and  pretence, — out 
spoken,  courageous,  straightforward, — he  was  also  reli 
gious,  though  in  a  characteristic  way.  In  no  degree  what 
is  best  described  as  fervid  or  pious,  he  had  been  an  inter 
ested  student  of  theology,  and  loved  to  discuss  its  prob 
lems.  Very  tolerant  of  difference,  he  himself  felt  the 
need  of  fixedness  in  faith ;  and  yet  he  early  craved  some 
thing  wider  and  richer  in  expression  and  sympathy  than 
the  creeds  native  to  New  England  in  which  he  had  been 
nurtured.  He  accordingly  identified  himself  with  that 
broader  Episcopacy  to  which  he  afterwards  devoutly  and 
conscientiously  adhered.  His  was  no  inanimate  or  ab- 

[41  ] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

stract  religion.  Living  in  an  atmosphere  of  agnosticism, 
he  was  no  agnostic.  Quite  otherwise,  indeed.  But  I  do  not 
know  that  his  character  in  these  respects,  which  all  who 
knew  him  well  felt,  was  ever  more  clearly  and,  I  may 
add,  touchingly  revealed  to  me, — by  a  flash  as  it  were, 
—than  through  an  anecdote  which  came  to  me  from  a 
female  friend  of  his  and  mine.  It  seems  that  John  Ropes 
was  one  day  to  dine  with  her.  A  few  hours  before  the 
appointed  time  he  called,  in  some  agitation,  to  tell  her 
that  he  could  not  come.  His  mother,  very  old,  had  some 
time  been  failing ;  and  the  end  was  now  evidently  close 
at  hand.  Shortly  before  they  had  suddenly  lost  a  son  and 
favorite  brother,  Frank,  of  about  the  age  of  John.  So 
now  John  came  to  call  upon  the  lady  I  have  referred  to, 
to  explain  his  absence;  and  with  deep  emotion  he  told 
her  that  his  mother  knew  she  had  not  long  to  live,  and 
he  could  not  leave  her  even  for  a  moment ;  for  it  was  her 
hope  and  his  that  she  would  retain  her  faculties  to  the 
very  end,  so  that,  dying,  she  might  carry  fresh  word  from 
him  to  Frank.  It  was  characteristic  in  its  outspoken  sim 
plicity,  its  lovableness,  its  unhesitating  expression  of 
childlike  faith. 

Friendly  himself,  no  one  had  more  friends  than  he. 
This  was  touchingly  evident  at  ;his  funeral.  Here  was  a 
man  who  had  known  neither  wife  nor  child ;  past  sixty 
years;  a  student,  living  alone.  He  dies,  and  the  whole 
community  crowds  to  Trinity  to  bear  witness  to  him. 
Nor  did  the  expression  come  from  any  one  quarter  or 
from  a  single  class.  It  was  as  widespread  as  it  was  gen 
uine;  and  those  there  had  come,  not  to  pay  conventional 
respect,  but  because  they  felt  that  they  wanted  to  be 
there.  The  individuality  of  the  man  had  been  pervasive. 

Physically  never  able  to  bear   arms   himself,  John 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

Ropes  had  an  almost  inordinate  admiration  for  those 
who  had  accomplished  great  feats  of  arms.  His  hero- 
worship  of  Napoleon,  for  instance,  scarcely  knew  bounds, 
whether  of  fact  or  logic  or  morals.  With  him  it  was  a 
cult.  His  enthusiasm,  however,  never  annoyed,  or  ex 
cited  a  spirit  of  controversy.  It  was  accepted,  and  dis 
missed,  as  his.  This  worship  of  Napoleon,  it  is  almost 
needless  to  say,  was  shared  by  me  only  under  very  dis 
tinct  limitations;  that,  however,  between  us  made  no 
sort  of  difference,  and  one  of  the  days  of  my  life  I  re 
member  most  vividly  and  account  most  fortunate  was 
a  day  at  the  close  of  June,  five  years  ago,  passed  in  his 
company  on  the  field  of  Waterloo.  His  book  on  Water 
loo  had  appeared  only  the  year  before,  and  he  and  I  had 
frequently  discussed  the  plan  and  incidents  of  that  cam 
paign,  though  I  had  never  been  upon  the  field.  He  had 
been  there  often ;  and  it  was  now  an  all-day  pleasure  to 
see  the  genuine,  overflowing  delight  with  which  he  took 
an  interested  novice  over  the  famous  battle-ground.  He 
was  familiar  with  its  every  feature,  and  seemed  to  linger 
almost  lovingly  about  the  spot  from  which  the  Emperor 
is  alleged  to  have  watched  the  advance  and  overthrow  of 
his  guard.  For  me,  at  least,  the  occasion  was  one  not  to 
be  forgotten. 

In  his  peculiar  province  of  military  history  John 
Ropes's  study  was  inexhaustible  and  his  grasp  surpris 
ing.  He  seemed  equally  ready  on  the  minutest  detail  or 
the  largest  operation.  The  hour  and  direction  of  every 
movement  were  ready  at  his  tongue.  I  remember  a  very 
characteristic  incident  illustrative  of  this.  He  was  deeply 
interested  on  the  part  of  General  "Baldy"  Smith  in  one 
of  those  paper  controversies,  almost  as  innumerable  as 
they  were  interminable,  which  grew  out  of  the  opera- 

[43] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

tions  of  the  Civil  War.  That  particular  debate  had  to  do 
with  the  momentous  failure  of  General  Smith  to  occupy 
Petersburg  on  the  evening  of  June  15,  1864,  after  the 
works  protecting  that  place  had  been  successfully  car 
ried.  At  Ropes's  table  one  evening,  a  year  or  two  ago,  the 
subject  came  up  for  discussion  in  a  numerous  company, 
and  some  question  arose  as  to  certain  matters  of  detail. 
It  so  chanced  that,  though  he  was  unaware  of  the  fact, 
I  had  then  been  on  the  ground;  and  I  casually  stated 
my  recollection  of  what  took  place.  I  spoke  from  mem 
ory  of  things  which  happened  thirty-four  years  before, 
and  I  have  little  doubt  that  I  was  altogether  wrong.  In 
any  case,  my  recollection  militated  strongly  against  the 
result  of  his  study  of  the  facts,  and  he  sharply  questioned 
me.  My  answers  were  apparently  not  satisfactory;  as  he 
bluntly  declared  in  reply,  "I  don't  believe  you  were  there 
at  all!"  Ordinarily  such  a  challenge  of  accuracy,  not  to 
say  veracity  even,  would  tend  at  least  to  bring  conversa 
tion  to  a  close,  and,  speaking  strictly  within  bounds,  to 
generate  a  sense  of  injury.  With  me,  in  the  case  of  John 
Ropes,  it  did  nothing  of  the  kind.  I  was  amused,  as  well 
as  staggered  in  my  faith  in  my  own  memory.  It  never 
even  occurred  to  me  that  he  could  mean  to  offend;  it 
was  his  way:  and,  moreover,  I  felt  he  was  probably  right. 
The  chances  of  his  being  so  were  in  any  event  so  great 
that  I  had  no  inclination  to  set  up  my  recollection  of 
thirty-four  years'  standing  against  his  thorough  study  of 
the  case.  So  I  contented  myself  with  having  in  my  rep 
ertory  one  more  characteristic  anecdote  of  my  lifelong 
friend. 

Almost  every  man  carries  lodged  in  his  memory  cer 
tain  familiar  lines  or  catches  which  recur  instinctively 
when  he  hears  of  the  loss  of  friends.  These  vary  with  the 

[44] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

periods  of  life.  In  my  own  case  I  find  myself  in  later 
years  repeating  more  and  more  Hamlet's  fatalistic  words, 
not  less  sad  than  philosophic:  "If  it  be  now,  'tis  not  to 
come ;  if  it  be  not  to  come,  it  will  be  now ;  if  it  be  not 
now,  yet  it  will  come :  the  readiness  is  all ;  since  no  man 
has  aught  of  what  he  leaves,  what  is 't  to  leave  betimes  ? 
Let  be."  Our  associate  left  "betimes."  It  is  not  easy  to 
cast  the  balance  and  say  whether  for  him  it  was  well  or 
ill.  He  had  enjoyed  life,  and  been  the  fruitful  cause  of 
its  enjoyment  by  others;  his  life,  also,  had  been  a  full  one, 
— useful,  much  occupied,  not  unduly  short.  He  had  in 
his  peculiar  field  won  distinction,  and  an  acknowledged 
authority.  I  greatly  question  whether  he  had  ever  tasted 
what,  for  him,  were  the  pleasures  of  life  more  keenly 
and  pleasantly  than  at  what  proved  its  closing  period. 
He  had  come,  in  the  quick  passage  of  the  years,  to  a 
point  for  him  fraught  with  peculiar  danger.  The  grand 
climacteric  was  passed;  and  though  he  still  retained  the 
full  measure  of  his  physical  and  mental  health,  he  had  no 
family  of  his  own.  The  best  was  unquestionably  behind. 
For  him  the  future  could  not  have  been  better  than  the 
past;  it  might  well  have  been  in  strong  contrast  with  it. 
That  he  would  have  borne  declining  strength  and  shat 
tered  powers  cheerfully  and  manfully,  no  one  who  knows 
him  can  for  a  moment  doubt;  but  he  would  have  felt 
deeply,  if  silently,  the  loss  of  his  accustomed  pleasures ; 
nor  could  he  have  lived  an  idle  valetudinarian. 

As  it  was,  deeply  interested  in  his  great  work,  he  had 
passed  the  last  summer  in  his  dearly  loved  vacation  home 
at  York,  and  in  the  autumn  returned  to  his  familiar 
Boston  haunts,  feeling  in  peculiarly  good  case  and  hope 
ful.  His  book  was  half  done;  he  saw  his  way  deep  into 
the  remaining  half.  All  went  well ;  there  was  no  premoni- 

[45] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

tion.  Contrary  to  his  custom,  on  the  for  him  fateful  day, 
he  left  his  office  earlier  than  usual,  some  work  of  repair 
or  innovation  being  in  progress,  giving  himself  a  partial 
holiday,  which  with  him  meant  some  additional  hours  of 
enjoyment  amid  the  familiar  surroundings  of  his  work 
ing  room  at  home,  intent  upon  his  theme.  The  office  did 
not  see  him  again.  That  afternoon  he  labored  over  some 
campaign  problem.  He  then  dined  in  his  wonted  way, 
and,  about  nine  o'clock,  again  resorted  to  his  library. 
He  was  not  again  seen  before  his  illness.  Apparently  he 
had  there  ended  the  day  earlier  than  was  his  custom,  for 
everything  was  found  in  the  order  usual  with  him.  It  is 
very  probable  that  he  felt  some  indication  of  what  was 
impending, — became  conscious  that  all  was  not  well 
with  him,  felt  that  something  was  going  wrong.  So, 
presently,  leaving  his  bed  and  calling  an  old  servant,  he 
told  her  to  ring  up  a  physician,  who  in  ten  minutes  was 
with  him.  Already  his  mind  had  ceased  to  work  clearly; 
and,  in  a  few  minutes  more,  he  was  unconscious.  Nature 
never  rallied.  The  end  for  him  had  come.  As  Hamlet 
said,— "Let  be." 

In  the  preface  to  his  "Introduction  to  the  Literature 
of  Europe,"  Hallam,  after  lamenting  over  the  impos 
sibility  of  exhausting  his  inexhaustible  theme,  and  re 
cording  his  sense  of  the  imperfection  of  his  work,  adds 
solemnly:  "But  I  have  other  warnings  to  bind  up  my 
sheaves  while  I  may, — my  own  advancing  years,  and 
the  gathering  in  the  heavens."  Our  friend  and  associate 
left  his  sheaves  but  partially  gathered, — in  his  case,  a 
distinct  loss  to  history,  for  he  was  engaged  in  dealing 
with  a  most  interesting  period,  and,  by  nature,  acqui 
sition  and  training,  he  was  peculiarly  qualified  to  deal 
with  it  instructively.  A  richly  freighted  vessel,  with  its 

[46] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

large  and  carefully  assorted  cargo,  slowly  accumulated, 
has  gone  suddenly  down.  The  loss  is  public.  For  us,  the 
fast-narrowing  circle  of  those  who  were  together  at  Har 
vard  before  the  great  cataclysm,  the  passing  of  John 
Ropes  is  an  event  not  less  suggestive  than  irremediable. 
For  him,  he  has  merely  gone  betimes.  "'Tis  not  to 
come." 


[47] 


ADDRESS 

BY  SOLOMON  LINCOLN 

THERE  was  perhaps  no  citizen  of  Boston  whose 
death  could  leave  a  sense  of  loss  more  widely 
spread  than  that  of  Mr.  Ropes.  He  touched  the 
activities  and  interests  of  life  in  this  community  at  many 
points,  and  the  large  and  distinguished  attendance  at  his 
funeral  testifies  both  to  the  personal  regard  in  which  he 
was  held  and  to  the  large  part  he  took  in  important  af 
fairs.  He  leaves  a  vacant  place  everywhere.  Occupying  a 
private  station,  at  his  death  he  has  received  almost  pub 
lic  honors. 

Those  of  us  who  knew  him  in  college  readily  bear  wit 
ness  to  the  early  exhibition  of  those  qualities  of  mind 
and  character  which  have  marked  his  whole  career.  His 
mature  manhood  was  the  simple  and  direct  development 
of  his  early  traits.  While  maintaining  a  high  rank  in 
scholarship,  he  was  distinguished  then,  as  always,  for  the 
solidity  rather  than  the  brilliancy  of  his  attainments,  for 
a  retentive  and  trustworthy  memory,  for  an  extensive 
and  accurate  familiarity  with  historical  literature,  for  in 
dependent  thought,  for  self-reliance,  for  the  sobriety  and 
soundness  of  his  judgments,  and  for  a  thorough  knowl 
edge  of  whatever  he  studied,  by  which  he  acquired  clear 
thought  and  a  capacity  for  terse  and  forcible  expression. 

Possessing  these  qualities  and  capacities,  they  were 
manifested  in  all  his  studies  and  labors,  and  in  all  brought 
legitimate  success. 

He  chose  the  profession  of  the  law,  but  in  practice  he 
naturally  inclined  to  the  work  of  the  office  rather  than 
that  of  the  courts,  although  he  did  not  neglect  nor  avoid 

[49] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

the  latter.  He  made  little  attempt  at  forensic  display, 
but  sought  to  convince  by  plain  statement  and  fair  argu 
ment,  and  his  blows  were  driven  home  by  the  potent 
force  of  his  high  character.  Naturally,  too,  he  cultivated 
the  literature  of  the  profession.  He  and  his  partner,  our 
associate  Mr.  Gray,  were  the  first  editors  of  the  Ameri 
can  Law  Review,  and  they  laid  its  foundations  so  firmly 
that  it  still  endures.  His  tastes  and  his  physical  infirmity 
tended  to  confirm  him  in  an  office  practice,  and  he  grad 
ually  fell  into  a  large  and  increasing  management  of 
great  trusts,  gladly  confided  to  his  good  judgment  and 
his  integrity. 

But  though  faithful  to  his  profession,  it  by  no  means 
absorbed  his  energies.  He  was  far  too  generous-minded 
not  to  take  a  keen  interest  in  all  great  questions  which 
temporarily  or  permanently  occupy  men's  minds.  For 
instance,  ecclesiastical  history  and  theological  discussion 
always  attracted  him.  He  was  not  accustomed  to  form 
his  religious  opinions  on  trust  or  by  inheritance.  He 
thought  for  himself.  He  early  investigated  the  systems 
of  Protestant  theology,  and  after  some  doubt  finally  at 
tached  himself  to  the  Episcopal  church.  Having  thus 
given  his  allegiance  to  this  church,  he  gave  it  active  sup 
port,  both  as  a  parish  officer  and  by  faithful  attendance 
upon  its  services.  He  held  most  intimate  relations  with 
its  ministers;  and  many  clergymen,  not  merely  of  his 
own  church,  but  of  other  denominations,  were  his  closest 
friends.  They  recognized  in  him  a  man  of  deeply  rever 
ential  and  religious  character,  and  one  whose  religious 
life  was  supplemented  by  many  quiet  benefactions. 

His  habit  of  wide  reading  always  remained,  although 
necessarily  limited  by  the  occupations  of  a  busy  life.  He 
gave  himself  chiefly  to  history.  Our  Society  early  recog- 

[50] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

nized  his  acquisitions  and  his  distinction  in  this  field.  He 
was  chosen  a  member  on  June  10,  1880;  and  if  he  was 
less  interested  than  some  members  in  the  special  objects 
of  the  Society,  it  was  because  he  devoted  himself  to 
more  distant  although  kindred  fields  of  investigation. 

From  college  days  through  life  he  was  especially  in 
terested  in  the  first  Napoleon,  and  he  studied  his  career 
with  incessant  and  minute  care.  He  verified  his  knowl 
edge  by  visits  to  the  great  battlefields,  and  collected  an 
interesting  and  curious  mass  of  material  and  memorabilia 
relating  to  his  hero.  He  published  much  upon  this  sub 
ject,  and  his  works  became  authorities,  the  most  impor 
tant  being  the  "Campaign  of  Waterloo,"  published  in 
1892.  This  is  a  copious  and  learned  account  of  that  great 
struggle,  and  however  we  may  agree  or  disagree  with  the 
author  in  his  conclusions,  there  can  be  but  one  opinion 
of  the  remarkable  knowledge,  research,  and  critical  skill 
which  these  books  display.  Among  Mr.  Ropes's  friends 
it  is  not  extravagant  to  say  that  he  has  indissolubly  as 
sociated  his  name  with  that  of  Napoleon. 

Always  liberal  and  wholesome  in  his  political  opinions, 
he  took  the  most  patriotic  interest  in  our  Civil  War. 
Himself  debarred  by  physical  infirmity  from  active  ser 
vice,  his  heart  was  in  it.  He  was  in  close  correspondence 
with  many  relatives  and  friends  who  were  engaged  in 
the  great  conflict,  and  the  loss  of  his  youngest  brother, 
who  was  killed  at  Gettysburg,  seemed  only  to  deepen 
his  interest  and  his  devotion. 

It  is  singular  that  this  quiet  gentleman  of  peaceful 
tastes,  both  inherited  and  cultivated,  should  yet  be  per 
haps  best  publicly  known  as  the  historian  of  war. 

He  followed  the  movements  of  our  armies  with  a 
knowledge  and  intelligent  criticism  which  were  marvel- 

[51  ] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

lous  in  a  civilian,  and  this  knowledge  ripened  through 
long  years  of  acquisition  until  at  last  it  displayed  its  full 
fruition  in  the  two  volumes  of  the  "Story  of  the  Civil 
War"  which  he  lived  to  publish.  The  Story  must  remain 
unfinished,  but  the  author  lived  to  enjoy  the  wide  fame 
it  commanded,  not  limited  to  our  country,  but  gener 
ously  granted  in  foreign  lands.  This  quiet  and  unostenta 
tious  civilian,  who  never  shouldered  a  gun,  was  an  au 
thority  with  whom  generals  of  both  armies  debated,  and 
to  whose  opinion  they  deferred. 

Nor  did  he  confine  himself  to  the  larger  matters  to 
which  I  have  adverted,  but  to  all  good  causes  he  lent 
the  assistance  due  from  a  public-spirited  citizen.  His 
College  was  always  dear  to  him,  and  he  served  long  and 
faithfully  on  its  Board  of  Overseers. 

The  qualities  with  which  all  who  knew  him  were  fa 
miliar  were  displayed  in  his  literary  style.  This  was  not 
ornate,  but  terse,  emphatic,  and  clear.  There  was  no 
doubt  of  the  writer's  meaning,  nor  sign  of  hesitation  in 
expressing  it. 

Thus  this  modest  citizen,  a  type  of  an  earlier  fashion, 
has  passed  his  dignified  life  always  in  a  private  position, 
yet  securing  a  respect  and  an  influence  to  which  no  offi 
cial  station  could  have  added. 

And  yet  those  who  have  known  him  for  a  lifetime 
would  feel  that  little  had  been  said  if  these  professional 
and  literary  achievements  were  alone  mentioned.  It  was 
the  engaging  personal  qualities  of  the  man  which  en 
deared  him  to  his  friends,  and  which  never  lost  their 
charm.  His  college  classmates  knew  him,  as  they  and 
all  his  associates  have  always  known  him,  to  be  the 
hearty,  unselfish,  cheery  friend,  generous  in  his  appre 
ciation  of  others,  interested  in  their  ambitions  and  their 

[52] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

sorrows,  and  lavish  of  commendation.  His  popularity 
was  universal.  The  many  who  were  privileged  to  visit 
his  home  will  long  remember  his  boundless  and  sunny 
hospitality.  The  charm  of  his  qualities  was  perhaps  there 
best  displayed.  His  guests  left  him  conscious  not  merely 
of  a  gracious  welcome,  but  of  a  certain  clear  mental  and 
moral  gain,  the  fruit  of  sound  opinion  and  healthful  dis 
cussion.  Yet  he  was  no  ascetic.  No  one  enjoyed  more 
than  he  the  lighter  pleasures  of  social  intercourse,  and 
in  them  his  keen  and  thoroughly  appreciative  sense  of 
humor  prompted  him  to  play  his  full  part. 

The  burden  of  physical  infirmity  which  he  always  bore 
produced  no  bitterness.  He  had  no  animosities;  if  argu 
mentative,  he  was  not  controversial.  And  to  the  last  he 
exhibited  the  vivacity  of  youth,  maintained  and  stimu 
lated  largely  by  his  constant  association  with  young  men, 
whose  patron  he  was,  and  among  whom  his  sincerest 
mourners  will  be  found. 

Immediately  after  his  graduation  he  organized  a  small 
club  of  classmates  who  have  dined  together  monthly 
during  the  cooler  months  of  more  than  forty  years.  Here 
he,  the  founder,  exercised  a  benignant  sway,  and  it  may 
well  be  understood  that  this  broken  circle  can  hardly  be 
restored. 


[53] 


ADDRESS 

BY  JOHN  C.  GRAY 

I  DO  not  propose  to  speak  of  Mr.  Ropes's  historical 
labors  in  detail.  Many  of  this  company  are  far  more 
competent  to  judge  them  than  I  am.  Their  main 
qualities  are  well  marked:  Great  industry  in  the  collec 
tion  of  authorities.  He  was  not  a  rapid  reader,  but  he 
never  had  to  read  anything  twice.  His  memory,  to  the 
minutest  circumstances  of  date  and  place,  was  remark 
able.  Then  he  had  unusual  power  of  mastering  the  de 
tails  of  a  complicated  transaction  and  of  setting  forth 
the  result  in  a  lucid,  orderly,  and  attractive  manner, 
so  as  to  be  alike  instructive  to  specialists  and  intelli 
gible  to  the  ordinary  reader.  And,  finally,  he  had  an 
intense  desire  to  find  out  and  tell  the  truth.  He  wel 
comed  the  expression  of  adverse  views,  not  that  he 
might  confute  them,  but  that  he  might  seriously,  with 
out  pride  of  opinion,  consider  what  there  was  in  them 
of  truth. 

Mr.  Ropes  was  by  profession  a  lawyer.  I  have  been 
associated  with  him  for  nearly  forty  years  in  the  study 
and  practice  of  the  law.  As  an  advocate  he  excelled  in 
the  quality  which  I  have  mentioned  as  marking  his  his 
torical  work, — a  great  facility  in  putting  order  into  a 
chaos  of  conflicting  facts  and  in  guiding  the  court  or 
a  jury  through  it  in  a  clear  and  persuasive  manner.  He 
might  have  risen,  I  have  always  thought,  to  distinction 
in  the  active  practice  of  the  courts;  but  circumstances 
drew  him  aside  from  forensic  work,  and  the  greater  part 
of  his  time  was  devoted  to  the  management  of  property 
in  trust.  I  find,  on  looking  at  his  books,  that  at  the  time 

[55] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

of  his  death  he  had  charge  of  more  than  a  hundred  trusts, 
some  of  considerable  size  and  some  very  small,  though 
these  last  were  often  more  troublesome,  and  of  more  im 
portance  to  the  persons  interested,  than  were  the  larger 
ones.  They  were  all,  large  and  small,  guarded  with  the 
same  conscientious  care.  Mr.  Ropes  made  no  pretence 
to  great  financial  knowledge  or  shrewdness,  but  his  large 
experience,  his  prudence,  his  methodical  habits  of  busi 
ness,  his  common-sense  carried  his  trusts  through  pe 
riods  of  business  depression  and  failure  with  a  success 
gratifying  to  himself  and  to  his  beneficiaries. 

But  Mr.  Ropes  was  more  remarkable  as  a  man  than 
as  an  historian  or  a  lawyer.  Nature  had  given  him  a  strong 
constitution,  but  he  was  stricken  in  boyhood  with  a  se 
vere  infirmity.  The  energy  with  which  he  determined  in 
youth  that  this  physical  disability  should  not  form  an 
essential  factor  in  his  life,  and  should  leave  no  mark  on 
his  naturally  high  spirit,  excited  the  admiration  of  all 
who  knew  him. 

But  he  was  to  be  put  to  a  severe  test.  He  was  a  born 
soldier,  and  from  boyhood  had  nursed  his  spirit  on  sto 
ries  of  martial  deeds.  The  Civil  War  broke  out.  His 
brother,  his  nearest  friends  and  companions  were  going 
into  the  army.  Had  he  been  an  able-bodied  man,  he 
would  have  been  among  the  foremost  to  seek  a  com 
mission,  not,  like  many  of  his  contemporaries,  merely 
from  a  sense  of  duty,  but  as  seizing  the  opportunity  to 
gratify  his  dearest  wish  and  his  highest  ambition.  He 
would  have  rejoiced  to  have 

"Drunk  delight  of  battle  with  his  peers? 

But  it  could  not  be.  He  was  absolutely  debarred.  Like 
Troubridge  stranded  in  the  Culloden  at  the  battle  of 

[56] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

the  Nile,  he  was,  in  the  words  of  Nelson,  compelled  to 
stand  idly  by,  "while  his  more  fortunate  companions 
were  in  the  full  tide  of  happiness." 

It  was  undoubtedly  the  greatest  affliction  of  his  life. 
To  many  men — I  think  I  may  say  to  most  men — it 
would  have  brought  bitterness  or,  at  best,  indifference 
to  the  struggle. 

But  Mr.  Ropes 's  most  striking  quality  was  magna 
nimity.  There  was  not  a  grain  of  envy  in  his  whole  na 
ture.  He  could  not  himself  go  to  the  war;  he  would  do 
all  that  was  possible  for  those  who  did.  In  watching 
over  their  interests,  in  ministering  to  their  wants,  in 
writing  innumerable  letters,  whose  arrivals,  as  I  can  tes 
tify,  were  the  best  moments  in  the  dull  monotony  of 
camp  life,  he  was  never  weary.  This  feeling  was  conse 
crated  by  the  death  of  his  brother,  who  was  killed  at 
Gettysburg.  And  after  the  war  closed,  the  interest  which 
lay  nearest  to  his  heart  was  to  perpetuate  the  memory 
of  the  events  of  a  war  in  which  he  himself  could  not 
take  part. 

Mr.  Ropes  was  a  man  of  strong,  very  strong,  religious 
feelings ;  he  came  from  the  purest  of  Puritan  stock,  but, 
like  his  excellent  father  before  him,  he  escaped  many  of 
the  weaknesses  of  the  Puritan  character.  He  had  no  taste 
for  small  scruples.  He  was  no  ascetic.  Within  the  limit 
of  becoming  mirth,  he  dearly  loved  a  jest.  He  was  in  the 
best  sense  a  man  of  the  world.  He  "saw  life  steadily  and 
saw  it  whole."  He  believed  in  the  duty  of  cheerfulness. 
His  virtues  were  positive,  not  negative.  His  thoughts 
were  not  how  to  mortify  himself,  but  how  to  help  others. 
His  generosity  was  boundless,  his  charity  unfailing.  He 
had  a  keen  insight  into  character,  and  knew  well  the 
faults  and  foibles  of  his  friends,  but  he  cared  not  to 

[57] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

dwell  on  them,  and  they  made  no  difference  in  his  af 
fection. 

He  was  in  many  ways  an  old-fashioned  man.  The 
modern  schemes  of  general  philanthropy  he  respected, 
but  he  took  little  interest  in  them,  and  felt  no  vocation 
to  share  in  them.  Many  years  ago  he  said  to  me  that  he 
believed  the  best  way  for  him  to  aid  his  fellows  was  by 
helping  individual  young  men.  And  thoroughly  did  he 
discharge  the  self-imposed  duty  and  this  not  only,  nor 
chiefly,  by  money,  though  he  was  a  liberal  giver,  whose  left 
hand  knew  not  what  his  right  hand  did.  To  scores  of  men 
in  trouble  or  temptation  his  sagacious  counsel,  his  cheer 
ful  courage,  his  high  sense  of  honor  and  duty,  his  unaf 
fected  sympathy  have  brought  the  needed  strength.  Many 
young  men,  all  over  the  country,  and  some  no  longer 
young,  can  testify  that  they  have  had  no  friend  like 
him.  He  had,  indeed,  a  genius  for  friendship.  Each  of  his 
friends  felt  that  he  was  not  like  any  other  friend  to  Mr. 
Ropes,  but  that  there  was  something  special  in  their  par 
ticular  relation.  And  so  there  was.  I  was  much  struck 
by  the  truth  of  what  a  young  man  said  to  me  since  Mr. 
Ropes's  death:  "I  have  had  many  kind  friends  to  sym 
pathize  with  me  in  my  troubles.  They  have  tried  to  put 
themselves  in  my  place,  and  think  how  they  would  have 
felt.  Mr.  Ropes  was  the  only  one  who  knew  how  /  felt." 

As  might  be  supposed,  Mr.  Ropes  was  given  to  hos 
pitality.  For  the  last  sixteen  years  of  his  life  he  was  a 
householder,  and  I  doubt  if  during  that  time  there  has 
been  any  table  in  Boston  at  which  there  have  been  so 
many  eminent  men  seated,  and  so  much  good  talk;  and 
among  the  good  talkers  the  host  was  one  of  the  best. 
But  he  was  no  lion-hunter.  The  same  kindness  of  heart 
marked  his  conduct  there  as  elsewhere.  If  you  dined 

[58] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

with  Mr.  Ropes,  you  might  find  yourself  at  table  with 
an  admiral,  an  ambassador,  or  an  archbishop,  but  you 
might  also  find  yourself  with  a  young  lieutenant  or  stu 
dent. 

Mr.  Ropes  felt  that  his  life  had  been  singularly  fortu 
nate  and  happy.  And  he  was  fortunate  and  happy  in  his 
end;  with  "no  cold  gradations  of  decay,"  death  freed  his 
strong  soul  from  his  frail  body — "the  nearest  way." 


[59] 


ADDRESS 

BY  GEORGE  B.  CHASE 

IN  their  fond  recollections  of  John  Ropes,  gentle 
men  who  preceded  me  have  spoken  of  the  many, 
many  years  they  knew  him.  But  in  length  of  years, 
if  not  in  daily  intimate  association  with  him,  my  own 
acquaintance  with  Ropes  exceeded  that  of  almost  any 
person  now  living.  Ropes  and  I  were  schoolfellows  as 
far  back  as  1843,  and  both  in  that  year  and  in  1844  we 
crossed  the  Common  almost  daily  on  our  way  to  school 
in  Chauncy  Place.  Few  greater  changes  have  occurred 
in  the  outward  aspect  of  Boston  in  the  last  half-century 
than  those  we  both  lived  to  witness  in  the  quiet  streets 
through  which  we  walked  to  and  from  school  so  long 
ago.  I  remember  Ropes  in  those  years  as  a  bright,  health 
ful  boy  and  an  especial  favorite  with  the  pretty  assistant 
teacher  who,  living  near  him,  usually  accompanied  us 
home  from  school. 

Ropes's  deformity,  which  in  any  account  of  this  most 
notable  man  as  he  lived  among  us  cannot  be  overlooked, 
so  much  did  it  seem  to  serve  as  a  foil  to  the  remarkable 
powers  of  his  mind,  was  a  curvature  of  the  spine.  This 
was  thought  to  have  begun  about  his  thirteenth  year 
and  grew  unobserved  upon  him  until  the  return,  after 
long  absence,  of  a  near  relative,  who  at  once  noticed 
something  amiss  in  the  boy's  appearance.  Then  it  was 
found  that  the  mischief  already  done  could  not  be  re 
paired.  The  attitude  the  boy  was  wont  for  some  reason 
to  assume,  when  bending  over  his  book  in  long  hours  of 
reading  or  study,  was  supposed  by  his  family  to  have 
been  the  cause  of  his  malformation. 

[61  ] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

So  much  has  been  said  here  to-day,  and  so  well  said, 
in  Ropes's  memory  that  I  touch  but  lightly  on  my  own 
recollections  of  him.  It  must  be  nearly  twenty  years 
since  John  Ropes  was  appointed  by  the  President  a  visi 
tor  to  West  Point.  During  the  visitation  of  that  year  I 
arrived  at  the  Point  one  afternoon,  and,  finding  Ropes 
sitting  in  the  shade  of  the  parade  ground,  sat  a  long  time 
with  him  before  and  after  evening  parade,  as  he  talked 
of  his  impressions  of  the  Academy.  A  few  hours  later  I 
heard  Professor  Michie  speak  to  the  guests — some  of 
them  officers  of  high  rank,  and  General  Schofield  was 
among  them — whom  he  had  gathered  in  his  home  that 
evening  of  Ropes's  attainments.  "He  is  a  prodigy,  an 
astonishing  man,"  he  said.  "Why,  gentlemen,  he  knows 
more  about  what  happened  in  the  field  between  '61 
and  '65  than  all  of  us  here  together." 

But  one  word  more.  In  the  spring  of  1861  Ropes  car 
ried  off  the  Bowdoin  prize  offered  to  resident  graduates 
at  Harvard  for  an  essay  on  Mansel's  "Limits  of  Reli 
gious  Thought."  Thus  early  in  life  did  he  show  how 
largely  the  subject  of  religion  had  engaged  his  atten 
tion,  and  I  believe  myself  well  within  the  truth  in  say 
ing,  as  I  look  back  upon  the  life  now  closed,  that  few 
men  trained  to  other  pursuits  have  lived  in  our  time 
among  us  who  gave  to  religious  study  and  meditation 
deeper  or  more  sustained  thought  than  the  friend  whose 
sudden  taking  off  we  deplore,  and  the  charm  of  whose 
society  we  shall  so  long  remember. 


[62] 


ADDRESS 

BEFORE  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY  OF 

ARTS  AND  SCIENCES 

BY  JOHN  FISKE 


ADDRESS 
BY  JOHN  FISKE 

JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES  was  born  in  St.  Petersburg, 
Russia,  April  28,  1836,  and  died  at  his  house,  99 
Mount  Vernon  Street,  Boston,  early  in  the  morn 
ing  of  October  28,  1899.  He  was  elected  a  Fellow  of  the 
Academy  in  May,  1885.  His  father  was  William  Ropes, 
a  native  of  Salem,  and  his  mother  was  Mary  Anne  Cod- 
man,  daughter  of  Hon.  John  Codman.  William  Ropes 
was  for  some  time  engaged  in  business  in  St.  Petersburg, 
but  removed  to  London  in  1837  and  lived  for  some  time 
at  Islington,  where  a  younger  son,  the  late  Dr.  F.  C. 
Ropes,  was  born. 

After  the  return  of  the  family  to  Boston  John  Ropes 
studied  for  a  while  at  the  Chauncy  Hall  School,  but  at 
about  the  age  of  fourteen  he  was  obliged  to  leave  school 
on  account  of  a  physical  infirmity.  Up  to  that  time  he 
had  been  perfectly  well  and  his  figure  was  erect  and 
shapely.  But  at  about  that  time  a  slight  curvature  of  the 
spine  became  apparent,  which  increased  rapidly  until  it 
became  a  noticeable  malformation.  This  physical  defor 
mity  did  not  embarrass  the  action  of  heart  or  lungs,  and 
during  his  entire  life  his  health  was  remarkably  good. 
But  nevertheless  the  deformity  was  a  very  serious  bur 
den  and  prevented  Ropes  from  engaging  in  activities 
which  would  have  been  most  congenial  to  him.  I  might 
add  that  to  those  who  loved  him — and  no  one  knew 
him  who  did  not — this  malformation  was  simply  non 
existent.  In  sitting  and  talking  with  him  one  never 
thought  of  him  as  different  from  other  men. 

After  leaving  the  Chauncy  Hall  School,  Ropes  was  for 

[65] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

a  while  under  the  care  of  Dr.  Buckminster  Brown.  He 
then  resumed  his  studies  under  Professor  Goodwin,  who 
acted  as  his  private  tutor  and  fitted  him  for  college.  He 
was  graduated  at  Harvard  in  1857  and  soon  afterwards 
entered  the  Law  School,  where  he  received  his  LL.B. 
in  1861.  While  he  was  proficient  in  the  work  of  the 
Law  School,  it  is  interesting  to  observe  that  in  that 
early  time  he  also  took  a  deep  interest  in  questions  of 
philosophy  and  religion.  He  was  always  a  man  of  pro 
foundly  religious  nature,  with  all  the  strength  and  ear 
nestness  of  Puritanism,  but  without  its  ascetic  features. 
In  the  year  of  his  graduating  at  the  Law  School  he  re 
ceived  the  Bowdoin  prize  for  an  essay  on  "The  Limits 
of  Religious  Thought," — a  title  which  strongly  suggests 
that  his  mind  had  been  exercised  by  the  famous  book 
of  Dean  Mansel  which  we  were  all  then  reading.  For 
a  short  time  Ropes  studied  in  the  office  of  Peleg  W. 
Chandler  and  George  O.  Shattuck.  He  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  November  28,  1861,  and  continued  to  practise 
law  in  Boston  until  the  time  of  his  death.  In  1865  he 
formed  a  partnership  with  John  Chipman  Gray  of  the 
class  of  1859;  and  thirteen  years  later  W.  C.  Loring 
of  the  class  of  1872  was  added  to  the  firm,  which  has 
since  been  known  as  Ropes,  Gray  and  Loring.  Ropes's 
professional  work  was  almost  entirely  confined  to  the  of 
fice.  Possibly  his  physical  difficulty  may  have  had  some 
thing  to  do  with  this.  He  had  all  the  qualities  which 
might  have  placed  him  in  the  very  highest  ranks  as  an 
advocate  before  the  court.  He  had  an  almost  infallible 
scent  for  the  essential  points  in  a  case,  he  could  disen 
tangle  the  most  complicated  details,  he  could  hunt  for 
evidence  with  a  kind  of  cosmic  patience  that  took  every 
thing  with  the  utmost  deliberation  but  never  let  slip  the 

[66] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

minutest  detail,  and  he  could  marshal  his  arguments 
with  a  logical  power  that  was  equalled  only  by  the  ar 
tistic  beauty  of  statement.  To  hear  him  argue  any  point 
was  a  genuine  delight  both  to  one's  reason  and  to  one's 
aesthetic  sense.  With  all  these  rare  endowments  as  an 
advocate,  Ropes  confined  himself  principally  to  business 
that  could  be  done  in  the  office,  especially  to  the  care 
and  management  of  trust  estates.  At  the  time  of  his 
death  there  were  more  than  a  hundred  trust  estates, 
large  and  small,  in  his  hands.  He  had  long  ago  estab 
lished  his  reputation  as  a  safe  person  for  taking  care  of 
money.  He  always  showed  sound  judgment  in  making 
investments,  and  I  suspect  that  one  secret  of  his  suc 
cess  was  that  minute  and  systematic  attention  to  detail 
which  characterized  everything  that  he  did. 

The  high  qualities  which  might  have  made  him  a 
great  advocate  found  a  rich  field  for  their  employment 
in  work  done  outside  of  office  hours;  and  it  is  after  all 
by  that  literary  work  that  he  will  be  longest  and  most 
widely  known.  The  recollection  of  his  professional  work 
will  of  course  pass  away  or  be  confined  to  very  few  per 
sons  after  the  present  generation.  But  his  contributions 
to  history  have  excellences  which  are  likely  to  secure 
for  them  a  very  long  life.  His  published  writings  relate 
almost  entirely  to  military  history,  in  which  his  two 
chief  topics  were  the  career  of  Napoleon  and  the  Civil 
War  in  America.  I  think  there  was  in  Ropes's  nature  an 
infusion  of  the  true  soldier.  Had  he  been  physically  com 
petent  for  service,  he  would  probably  have  taken  part 
in  the  Civil  War,  like  his  younger  brother  Henry,  whose 
brief  life  was  ended  at  Gettysburg.  I  fancy  that  the  in 
capacity  for  service  was  a  real  grief  to  John  Ropes,  but 
it  never  seemed  to  disturb  his  serenity  of  spirit.  If  he 

[67] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

could  not  be  useful  in  one  way  he  could  in  another.  If 
he  could  not  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  Alexander,  he 
might  at  least  in  those  of  Arrian.  The  thought  of  writ 
ing  a  history  of  the  Civil  War  was  one  which  grew  with 
him  into  a  settled  purpose,  and  very  admirable  was  the 
sort  of  preparation  which  he  made  for  it.  It  was  natural 
that  the  subjects  uppermost  in  his  mind  should  come 
up  for  discussion  in  the  pleasant  evening  hours  at  the 
club.  Gradually  there  grew  up  a  habit  of  holding  meet 
ings  at  his  house,  meetings  in  which  veterans  of  what 
ever  rank  could  compare  their  experiences  and  discuss 
mooted  questions.  Ropes  strongly  encouraged  the  pres 
ervation  of  every  scrap  of  experience  that  could  be  put 
upon  record,  and  thus  grew  up  the  habit  of  preparing 
historical  papers  to  be  read  and  discussed  at  these  in 
formal  meetings.  In  this  way  Ropes  became  the  founder 
of  a  most  valuable  institution, — the  Military  Historical 
Society  of  Massachusetts.  For  several  years  this  body 
held  its  meetings  at  Ropes's  house,  where  the  speaker 
of  the  evening  was  apt  to  dine  before  the  meeting  and 
where  the  sessions  were  sure  to  end  with  a  social  glass 
and  abounding  good-fellowship.  The  publications  of  this 
Society,  though  few  in  number,  are  of  great  value.  In 
recent  years  it  has  found  a  permanent  habitation  in  one 
of  the  rooms  of  the  Cadet  Armory  where  Ropes,  some 
time  ago,  placed  the  larger  part  of  his  valuable  histori 
cal  library. 

One  of  the  first  literary  results  of  these  studies  was 
an  elaborate  examination  of  the  Virginia  Campaign  of 
General  Pope  in  1862,  a  summary  of  which  was  fur 
nished  by  Ropes  in  his  volume  entitled  "The  Army 
under  Pope,"  being  one  of  the  volumes  of  Scribner's 
series  on  the  Civil  War.  Among  other  things  it  may  be 

[68] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

said  of  this  book  that  it  completely  exonerates  General 
Fitz  John  Porter  from  the  charges  brought  against  him 
after  the  second  battle  of  Bull  Run  and  upon  which  he 
was  so  unjustly  and  cruelly  condemned.  I  have  been 
told  that  Ropes 's  weighty  presentation  of  the  case  ex 
erted  no  small  influence  upon  the  final  verdict  which 
declared  General  Porter  innocent  and  went  as  far  as 
possible  toward  repairing  the  grievous  wrong  that  had 
been  done.  If  no  other  result  had  come  from  founding 
the  Military  Historical  Society,  this  alone  would  have 
more  than  justified  its  existence. 

But  Ropes's  magnum  opus,  "The  Story  of  the  Civil 
War,"  was  unfortunately  never  completed.  It  would 
have  filled  four  volumes,  and  death  removed  the  author 
soon  after  the  publication  of  the  second.  The  loss  is  one 
that  can  never  be  made  good.  Other  writers  of  course 
may  go  over  the  period  which  Ropes  failed  to  cover,  but 
nobody  can  complete  his  book,  for  it  is  a  case  in  which 
the  writer's  individual  characteristics  and  personal  ex 
perience  are  the  all-important  features.  We  have  heard 
much  in  recent  years  of  the  advantages  of  the  coopera 
tive  method  in  writing  history,  whereby  a  hundred  ex 
perts  may  take  each  a  small  fragment  of  the  ground  to 
be  covered.  The  merits  of  such  a  method  are  not  denied, 
but  it  has  one  great  defect:  it  gives  us  Hamlet  with  the 
Prince  of  Denmark  left  out.  In  an  historical  narrative 
nothing  can  make  up  for  the  personality  of  the  narra 
tor.  A  hundred  experts  on  the  Civil  War  would  not  fill 
Ropes's  place  for  the  simple  reason  that  their  hundred 
individual  experiences  cannot  be  combined  in  the  same 
stream  of  consciousness.  Ropes  had  gathered  experience 
from  every  quarter;  he  had  not  only  read  pretty  much 
everything  worth  reading  on  his  subject,  he  had  not  only 

[  69  ] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

delved  with  endless  patience  in  the  original  documents, 
but  he  had  obtained  through  social  intercourse  with  sol 
diers  now  passed  away  a  truly  enormous  fund  of  infor 
mation,  a  great  part  of  which  has  surely  perished  with 
him.  I  remember  that  during  the  last  two  or  three  years 
the  thought  sometimes  occurred  to  him  that  he  might 
not  live  to  finish  his  book.  He  told  me  one  day  that  he 
only  lacked  eight  years  of  being  threescore  and  ten,  and 
that  eight  years  were  all  too  short  a  period  for  finishing 
the  two  volumes  that  remained  to  be  done;  he  must 
therefore  "scorn  delight  and  live  laborious  days."  He 
was  always  extremely  fond  of  society;  no  man  more 
keenly  enjoyed  a  dinner-party  or  an  evening  at  the  club, 
and  I  can  testify  that  sometimes  after  club  hours  were 
over  we  used  to  enjoy  prolonging  our  friendly  chat  quite 
into  the  morning  hours;  but  in  these  latter  days  Ropes 
became  much  more  chary  of  his  time  and  subjected  him 
self  to  a  kind  of  discipline  in  order  that  his  work  might 
be  finished. 

In  another  direction  and  in  dealing  with  a  more  lim 
ited  theme,  he  achieved  a  finished  piece  of  work.  He 
had  always  entertained  a  warm  admiration  for  the  First 
Napoleon.  It  was  natural  that  such  an  acute  military 
critic  should  admire  such  transcendent  military  genius. 
But  Ropes  carried  his  admiration  to  an  extent  with 
which  not  all  his  friends  found  it  easy  to  sympathize.  In 
his  little  book  entitled  "The  First  Napoleon"  Ropes 
appears  as  the  great  Corsican's  advocate,  and  his  case  is 
presented  with  consummate  skill.  It  has  all  the  more 
weight  because  the  author  is  far  too  skilful  to  weaken 
his  case  by  over  statement  or  by  any  too  conspicuous 
warmth  of  enthusiasm.  It  is  a  masterly  piece  of  writing, 
although  in  its  philosophic  grasp  of  the  man  and  the 

[70] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

period  it  is  surely  far  inferior  to  the  book  published 
about  the  same  time  by  the  late  Sir  John  Seeley. 

It  was  in  relation  to  the  Waterloo  Campaign  that 
Ropes  produced  the  completely  finished  work  already 
alluded  to.  No  battle  of  the  nineteenth  century  has 
called  for  so  much  discussion  as  Waterloo;  and  most  of 
the  discussion  has  centred  about  the  question,  "Why 
did  Napoleon  lose  the  battle?"  The  books  on  this  sub 
ject  are  legion,  and  they  present  us  with  an  English 
view  of  the  situation  and  a  Prussian  view,  and  ever  so 
many  French  views,  according  to  the  political  and  per 
sonal  predilections  of  the  writers.  Usually  we  find  some 
particular  antecedent  selected  as  explaining  the  mighty 
result,  while  other  antecedents  receive  inadequate  atten 
tion  or  are  passed  over.  One  writer  is  impressed  with  the 
inefficiency  of  Grouchy,  another  one  traces  the  catas 
trophe  to  the  aimless  wanderings  of  Erlon's  corps  on  the 
sixteenth  of  June,  and  so  on.  But  in  Ropes's  monograph 
what  chiefly  impresses  us  is  the  fact  that  he  weighs  every 
circumstance  with  the  greatest  care  and  puts  real  men 
tal  effort  into  the  work  of  estimating  the  precise  share 
which  each  circumstance  took  in  the  general  mass  of 
causation.  In  the  first  place  the  quality  of  the  French 
army  is  duly  considered  and  compared  with  the  quality 
of  the  allied  forces.  Then  such  facts  as  the  Emperor 
having  Soult  for  Chief  of  Staff,  an  unaccustomed  posi 
tion  for  that  able  marshal,  his  feeling  it  necessary  to 
leave  at  Paris  the  invincible  Davoust,  and  other  like 
circumstances,  receive  due  attention.  The  mysterious 
movements  of  Erlon,  which  prevented  his  being  of  any 
use  either  to  Ney  at  Quatre  Bras  or  to  Napoleon  at 
Ligny,  are  more  acutely  analyzed  than  in  any  other 
book.  Then  the  consequences  of  the  very  incomplete  de- 

[71  ] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

feat  of  Bliicher  on  the  sixteenth  are  carefully  considered. 
Then  Napoleon's  great  and  unusual  blunder  in  assum 
ing  an  eastward  retreat  for  the  Prussians  and  acting 
upon  the  assumption  without  verifying  it,  is  properly 
characterized.  The  share  wrought  by  the  muddy  roads 
and  the  rains  is  not  forgotten,  nor  the  physical  weak 
nesses  which  hampered  the  great  general  and  allowed 
him  now  and  then  to  be  caught  napping  for  a  moment; 
the  masterly  position  taken  by  Wellington;  the  effects 
of  the  topography;  the  extent  to  which  the  Emperor's 
attention  was  diverted  early  in  the  afternoon  in  the  di 
rection  of  Planchenoit, — not  one  of  these  points  is  for 
gotten  or  slurred  over.  It  is  this  minute  quantitative 
consideration  of  details  that  impresses  upon  Ropes's  his 
torical  writings  their  truly  scientific  character,  and  no 
theme  could  have  been  better  calculated  to  exhibit  it  in 
its  perfection  than  the  campaign  of  Waterloo.  One  can 
not  read  the  book  carefully  without  feeling  that  for  once 
in  the  world  something  has  been  done  so  exhaustively 
that  it  will  not  need  to  be  done  again.  It  would  seem  al 
most  impossible  for  the  most  fertile  mind  to  offer  a  sug 
gestion  of  anything  actual,  probable,  or  possible  about 
Waterloo  that  our  author  has  not  already  brought  for 
ward  and  considered.  Those  who  write  such  books  are 
few,  and  to  study  them  is  a  great  and  profitable  stimulus. 
As  this  monograph  on  Waterloo  related  to  a  subject  al 
ready  well  understood  in  Europe,  it  immediately  gave 
Ropes  a  high  reputation  in  European  circles,  and  I  be 
lieve  he  is  regarded  by  experts  as  one  of  the  soundest 
military  critics  since  the  days  of  Jomini. 


[72] 


A  MEMORIAL  SKETCH 
BY  A.  J.  C.  SOWDON 


[Reprinted  from  "  Time  and  the  Hour"  Boston,  November  4,  1899] 


A  MEMORIAL  SKETCH 

BY  A.  J.  C.  SOWDON 

A  LIFE  of  singular  strength  and  beauty  has 
passed  from  mortal  vision.  The  great  company 
of  friends  and  mourners  which  filled  Trinity 
Church  last  Monday  testified  to  the  respect  and  affection 
hi  which  John  Codman  Ropes  was  held  in  this  commu 
nity.  He  was  only  a  private  citizen,  holding  no  official 
position;  had  no  political  influence;  belonged  to  no  pop 
ular  or  secret  societies;  and  never  had  descended  to  any 
ignoble  arts  which  attract  popular  interest  and  approval. 
During  these  many  years  he  has  gone  in  and  out  among 
us,  simply  doing  the  duties  and  living  the  life  of  a  good 
citizen,  as  he  understood  them.  But  all  the  while  he  was 
making  friends  who  loved  him  as  few  men  are  loved,  and 
it  has  been  said  that  his  death  has  occasioned  a  public 
sorrow  unknown  since  the  death  of  his  friend  Phillips 
Brooks. 

William  Ropes,  the  father,  was  a  man  of  very  strong 
character,  and  one  of  the  best  types  of  old-time  mer 
chants  and  ship-owners.  He  had  large  dealings  with 
London  and  St.  Petersburg,  and  his  mind  and  range  of 
ideas  had  widened  accordingly.  The  mother,  a  daughter 
of  Hon.  John  Codman  and  a  sister  of  Rev.  Dr.  Codman 
of  Dorchester,  was  a  woman  of  strong  convictions,  much 
piety,  and  a  gentle,  motherly  nature.  Together  they  pre 
sided  over  a  home  of  sweetness  and  refinement,  precisely 
the  kind  of  home  for  the  upbuilding  of  character. 

In  the  year  1853  John  and  his  brother  Francis  en 
tered  Harvard  College.  John  was  the  more  intellectual 
and  the  more  popular  of  the  two,  although  in  subse- 

[75] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

quent  years  Francis  attained  distinction  as  a  physician. 
John  was  even  as  a  Freshman  a  remarkable  youth,  pure 
in  morals  and  speech,  bright,  intelligent,  well-read,  very 
thoughtful  and  conscientious,  and  wise  beyond  his  years. 
Even  in  those  early  years  he  was  well  versed  in  Napo 
leonic  lore,  while  his  knowledge  of  general  history  was 
large,  exact,  and  well  digested.  At  graduation  he  took 
high  rank,  and  was  probably  the  most  popular  man  in 
the  class  of  1857. 

Among  his  first  acts  after  graduating  was  to  found  a 
Dinner  Club  among  his  classmates.  This  club  has  flour 
ished  greatly,  even  to  the  present  time,  but  its  ranks  are 
sadly  thinned.  Partly  with  a  sense  of  humor,  it  was 
named  for  him,  and  called  the  Jacobite  Club.  Its  dinners 
have  been  held  monthly,  except  in  summer,  and  among 
those  who  once  added  a  charm  to  its  meetings  were  the 
late  Robert  Dickson  Smith,  James  J.  Storrow,  Stanton 
Blake,  Charles  F.  Walcott,  James  Amory  Perkins, 
Howard  Dwight,  Ezra  Dyer,  George  McKean  Folsom, 
and  George  M.  Barnard.  With  these  meetings  Ropes 
never  allowed  any  engagement  to  interfere  in  the  forty- 
two  years  of  its  existence. 

John  Ropes  came  naturally  by  his  love  of  military 
history.  It  began  in  college,  but  it  received  a  mighty 
stimulant  in  the  opening  and  progress  of  the  Civil  War, 
and  the  departure  of  so  many  of  his  friends  for  the  army. 
Who  of  those  young  Harvard  soldiers  did  he  not  know? 
And  with  many  he  kept  up  a  lively  correspondence  dur 
ing  the  entire  war.  His  youngest  brother,  Henry  (Har 
vard,  1862),  was  killed  at  Gettysburg,  and  this  great  af 
fliction  to  him  seemed  only  to  increase  his  hunger  for 
military  facts  and  study.  More  and  more  he  withdrew 
from  society,  of  which  he  was  very  fond,  and  took  up 

[76] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

those  serious  studies  which  became  his  life's  work.  His 
subsequent  magazine  articles  and  histories  upon  Napo 
leon,  Waterloo,  our  Civil  War,  and  kindred  topics  have 
given  him  a  wide  reputation  as  a  historian  and  military 
critic,  and  rendered  him  exceedingly  popular  with  both 
soldiers  and  scholars.  He  was  the  founder  of  the  Mili 
tary  Historical  Society  of  this  State,  and  enjoyed  the 
distinction  of  being  one  of  the  very  few  civilian  mem 
bers  of  the  Commandery  of  the  Loyal  Legion.  His  ac 
quaintance  among  public  men  was  very  large,  especially 
military  men,  and  many  a  battle  of  the  Civil  War  has 
been  fought  over  again  at  his  dinner-table.  His  full  and 
exact  knowledge  has  sometimes  enabled  him  to  instruct 
officers  about  the  battles  they  had  engaged  in,  even  as 
to  their  own  positions  on  the  field  of  action. 

But  how  shall  we  speak  of  the  rare  charm  of  this  man's 
personality,  which  was  so  unique  in  our  community  ?  He 
was  so  intelligent,  so  sensible,  so  broad-minded,  so  en 
thusiastic!  He  had  for  years  a  reputation  as  a  talker,  a 
conversationalist,  and  nobody  could  listen  to  him  with 
out  being  captivated.  He  was  intensely  vigorous  and 
manly.  He  was  singularly  courteous,  and  never  unfairly 
stated  the  position  of  his  adversary,  even  in  the  heat  of 
high  debate.  Those  who  were  privileged  to  share  his 
friendship  can  recall  nothing  finer  than  hours  passed  at 
his  hospitable  board  or  around  the  fire  in  his  library. 
These  were  indeed  nodes  ambrosiance,  and  never  to  be 
forgotten.  His  insight  into  character  and  his  ability  to 
analyze  it  were  very  delightful,  while  his  wit  and  his 
love  of  good  stories  charmed  his  friends.  He  was  a  per 
fectly  sane  and  wholesome  man,  with  no  fads  and  with 
no  patience  for  cranks  or  well-meaning  fools.  He  could 
not  endure  bores.  His  plain  speaking  was  refreshing,  his 

[77] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

righteous  indignation  was  something  to  remember,  and 
no  one  ever  left  his  presence  without  feeling  that  he  had 
been  in  the  company  of  a  strong  man. 

Mr.  Ropes  seemed  to  win  the  esteem  of  all  who  met 
him.  To  his  nearest  friends  he  was  tender  and  generous, 
for  his  nature  was  lovable  and  his  heart  pure  and  warm. 
With  no  show  of  ever  giving,  and  rather  a  dislike  of 
public  philanthropists,  he  was  one  of  the  constant  givers 
in  this  city,  and  hundreds  could  testify  to  his  generous 
and  unobtrusive  benefactions.  In  early  life  he  came  out 
of  Congregationalism  into  what  he  grew  to  regard  as 
the  fresher  and  sunnier  atmosphere  of  the  Episcopal 
church,  and  became  the  close  friend  and  trusted  adviser 
of  Bishops  Brooks  and  Lawrence  and  of  his  own  rec 
tor,  Dr.  Donald.  Many  of  his  most  intimate  friends  were 
among  the  clergy,  wrhose  society  he  greatly  enjoyed,  and 
were  confined  to  no  denomination.  He  deplored  secta 
rian  divisions,  and  yet  he  dearly  loved  theological  in 
quiry.  In  his  early  youth  he  took  the  Harvard  Graduate 
prize  for  the  best  essay  upon  Mansel's  "Limits  of  Reli 
gious  Thought."  His  religious  life  was  deep  and  earnest. 
His  conversations  upon  sacred  themes  showed  profound 
reverence  and  a  critical  and  lifelong  study.  He  seemed 
familiar  with  every  phase  of  religious  thought  and  mod 
ern  theological  research;  he  searched  for  the  truth  and 
did  not  fear  to  face  it  wheresoever  he  found  it.  His 
knowledge  of  the  Bible  was  not  less  remarkable  than 
the  simplicity,  beauty,  and  strength  of  his  faith.  To  listen 
to  him  was  indeed  a  spiritual  uplift. 

He  knew  no  fear.  He  led  the  first  Republican  revolt 
in  Massachusetts  in  1876  as  head  of  the  Bristow  Club, 
and  was  the  first  president  of  the  first  Civil-Service  Re 
form  Club  in  this  State.  He  deprecated  the  present  con- 

[78] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

dition  of  political  parties,  and  always  asserted  his  right 
to  vote  as  he  chose. 

In  this  brief  tribute  many  things  are  left  for  others 
to  speak  of.  In  his  profession  as  a  lawyer  he  took  high 
rank,  and  was  the  prudent  and  trusted  counsellor.  As  a 
neighbor  and  a  familiar  figure  in  our  streets  men  grew 
to  know  him  and  respect  him.  Little  did  they  know 
how  this  busy  man  loved  children  and  young  people 
and  gathered  them  about  him  and  entertained  them; 
and  how  he  advised  -and  helped  young  men  to  a  higher 
living.  In  his  heart  he  was  as  young  as  any  of  them,  and 
he  found  great  happiness  in  their  company. 

This  beautiful  and  helpful  life  is  ended,  and  oh,  the 
difference  it  will  make  to  so  many  in  the  community! 
The  final  summons,  which  came  to  him  alone,  suddenly, 
at  the  midnight  hour,  doubtless  found  him  ready.  Death 
never  finds  such  a  man  unprepared. 

"E"*en  as  he  trod  that  day  to  God, 

So  walked  lie  from  his  birth, 
In  simpleness  and  gentleness, 
And  honor  and  clean  mirth" 


[79] 


RESOLUTIONS 

OF   THE   BAR   ASSOCIATION   OF   THE 
CITY   OF   BOSTON 


RESOLUTIONS 

OF  THE   BAR   ASSOCIATION   OF  THE 
CITY  OF   BOSTON 

WHEREAS  by  the  death  of  John  Codman 
Ropes  on  October  28,  1899,  we  lost  one  of 
our  most  widely  known  and  best  beloved 
members,  we  place  on  record  this  brief  memorial  of  his 
professional  work. 

Mr.  Ropes  was  a  man  of  such  varied  talents  and  felt 
so  strong  an  interest  in  matters  outside  of  law,  and  de 
voted  himself  with  such  untiring  industry  to  everything 
he  undertook,  that  he  became  a  conspicuous  literary  and 
social  leader,  and  there  is,  perhaps,  danger  that  our  suc 
cessors,  and  even  his  contemporaries,  may,  for  that  rea 
son,  fail  to  appreciate  what  he  did  and  was  in  the  strict 
line  of  his  profession*  It  is  for  this  Association  to  see 
that  the  work  to  which  he  gave  the  best  of  his  time 
and  thought  is  faithfully  recorded. 

He  was  born  April  28,  1836,  in  St.  Petersburg,  where 
the  house  of  William  Ropes  and  Company  had  recently 
been  founded  by  his  father,  who  belonged  to  an  old 
Salem  family. 

When  he  was  five  years  old  his  family  returned  to 
Boston.  He  was  educated  here  and  in  1857  was  gradu 
ated  from  Harvard  College.  He  studied  law  at  the  Har 
vard  Law  School  and  afterwards  in  the  office  of  Chand 
ler  and  Shattuck. 

After  his  admission  to  the  bar  he  occupied  for  a  few 
years  an  office  with  Robert  M.  Morse. 

At  the  close  of  the  Civil  War  he  and  his  friend  John 
C.  Gray  formed  the  firm  of  Ropes  and  Gray.  In  1878 

[83] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

William  Caleb  Loring,  now  Mr.  Justice  Loring,  became 
a  member  of  this  firm,  and  the  name  was  changed  to 
Ropes,  Gray  and  Loring. 

For  several  years  after  1866,  Mr.  Ropes  was  Assistant 
United  States  District  Attorney  for  the  district  of  Mas 
sachusetts,  and  he  was  afterwards  offered  the  position  of 
Assistant  United  States  Attorney  General  by  his  friend 
Mr.  Devens,  but  this  he  declined. 

While  in  the  district  attorney's  office,  he  was  actively 
engaged  in  the  trial  of  the  civil  cases  in  which  the  gov 
ernment  was  interested,  and  this  part  of  the  work  fell 
chiefly  to  him. 

In  connection  with  Mr.  Gray  he  founded  the  Ameri 
can  Law  Review,  which  they  carried  on  until  its  reputa 
tion  was  established  and  its  success  assured. 

When  he  left  the  district  attorney's  office  he  was  al 
ready  much  sought  after  as  a  trustee  and  a  manager  of 
property,  but  he  continued  for  many  years  to  keep  up 
his  general  practice,  and  only  withdrew  from  the  trial 
of  cases  as  the  pressure  of  other  business  forced  him  so 
to  do. 

He  keenly  enjoyed  the  struggle  of  a  well-contested 
lawsuit,  and  on  several  occasions  continued  the  battle 
with  wonderful  courage  and  persistency  after  it  seemed 
hopeless  to  others.  His  unflagging  industry  and  zeal 
were  lavished  on  the  preparation  of  his  briefs  and  argu 
ments,  and  they  displayed  a  rare  power  of  understanding 
confused  and  complicated  facts  and  ideas  and  giving 
them  an  orderly,  simple,  and  intelligible  form. 

He  was  prompt  in  deciding  and  acting,  and  in  the 
management  of  the  large  interests  intrusted  to  him  he 
showed  great  practical  common  sense  and  very  sound 
judgment.  His  great  kindness  of  heart  endeared  him  to 

[84] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

his  clients  and  led  him  to  give  the  same  attention  to  the 
small  matters  brought  to  him  by  the  widow  and  the  or 
phan  as  to  large  affairs  of  business. 

He  was  the  friend  and  adviser  of  hundreds.  He  took 
a  personal  interest  in  all  their  problems,  and  no  one  did 
more  of  that  important  work  of  the  lawyer  whereby  by 
judicious  advice  and  timely  action  costly  litigation  is 
prevented. 

No  trait  of  his  character  was  more  striking  than  his 
love  for  young  men,  and  this  is  especially  noticeable 
in  his  relations  with  the  younger  lawyers.  For  many 
years  he  had  always  one  or  more  students  in  his  office, 
and  his  treatment  of  them  was  invariably  considerate  and 
his  intercourse  most  helpful.  One  and  all  they  became 
his  warm  personal  friends.  At  the  time  of  his  death  no 
man  at  the  bar  was  more  generally  beloved  than  he. 

He  was  very  public  spirited,  but  the  numerous  bodies, 
religious,  literary,  and  social,  to  which  he  gave  so  much 
of  his  time,  have  severally  borne  their  testimony  to  his 
work,  and  it  is  not  necessary  to  speak  of  them  here.  But 
we  cannot  omit  a  reference  to  his  services  as  a  member 
of  the  council  and  of  the  committee  of  grievances  of  this 
Association  during  its  early  years. 

It  was  most  important  that  the  first  efforts  of  this  As 
sociation  to  purify  and  keep  up  the  standard  of  the  bar 
should  be  judicious  and  successful.  He  did  his  full  share 
of  this  trying  work,  and  to  its  success  his  good  judgment 
and  courage  greatly  contributed. 

SOLOMON  LINCOLN. 

J.  L.  STACKPOLE. 

CHARLES  P.  GREENOUGH. 

WILLIAM  L.  PUTNAM. 

ROBERT  S.  GORHAM. 
[85] 


ADDRESS 

BY   J.   LEWIS   STACKPOLE 

MR.  PUTNAM'S  resolutions  are  admirably 
conceived  and  yet  in  seconding  them  I  must 
ask  a  few  minutes'  indulgence  to  add  a  word 
or  two  of  my  own. 

John  Ropes  was  a  classmate  of  mine  and  a  lifelong 
friend  for  nearly  half  a  century,  and  his  nature  was  so 
strong,  so  vigorous,  so  full  of  life,  that  it  seems  hard  to 
realize  that  I  shall  see  him  no  more. 

Early  in  our  college  life  he  developed  the  maturity 
of  thought,  the  independence,  the  grasp  of  every  subject 
that  interested  him,  which  characterized  his  later  years. 
As  an  editor  of  the  Harvard  Magazine  he  grappled  with 
the  vital  topics  of  the  day,  and  soon  after  graduation 
took  the  resident  graduate's  prize  for  an  essay  on  "The 
Limits  of  Religious  Thought,"  a  subject  on  which,  I 
fancy,  most  of  us  had  but  few  and  superficial  ideas. 

So  it  was  with  him  through  all  his  life.  He  was  a  strong, 
bold,  independent  thinker,  an  earnest  and  thorough  ad 
vocate  of  the  side  of  the  question  which  he  espoused. 

These  qualities  he  carried  into  his  practice  of  the 
profession  of  the  law,  and  during  his  term  of  service  in 
courts  they  made  him  a  valuable  counsellor  and  a  suc 
cessful  advocate.  He  had  the  eloquence  which  came 
from  a  complete  confidence  in  the  cause  he  advocated, 
and  his  sound  good  sense  led  him  to  reject  all  argu 
ments  that  were  not  entirely  apposite  to  the  cause  under 
consideration. 

While  law  was  his  vocation,  he  had  not  a  few  avoca 
tions,  the  chiefest  among  them  the  study  and  criticism 

[87] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

of  military  campaigns.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that 
among  American  military  critics  he  stands  to-day  facile 
princeps.  His  knowledge  of  the  campaigns  of  the  Em 
peror  Napoleon  —  his  single  hero  worship  —  was  pro 
found  and  accurate,  and  his  study  of  the  campaign  of 
Waterloo  has  been  pronounced  by  competent  judges, 
both  English  and  French,  to  be  the  best  work  ever  writ 
ten  on  that  famous  battle.  His  acquaintance  with  the 
battles  of  the  Civil  War,  learned  from  accounts  given 
him  directly  by  the  most  distinguished  officers,  both  of 
the  United  States  army  and  on  the  Confederate  side, 
embraced  the  whole  of  that  great  conflict.  Two  volumes 
on  this  subject  he  had  given  to  the  world.  His  mind  was 
full  for  writing  the  rest. 

He  was  prepared  to  pass  judgment  on  many  vexed 
and  long-debated  questions,  and  his  work,  alas,  can  no 
more  be  completed  by  another  than  the  place  of  the 
judge  who  has  heard  the  evidence  and  arguments  in  a 
long  and  complicated  case  can  be  filled  by  a  stranger. 

John  Ropes  was  a  most  sociable  man  in  the  highest 
sense  of  the  term.  His  friends  were  numberless,  from  all 
ranks,  from  all  classes,  young  and  old,  rich  and  poor. 
To  be  admitted  to  his  friendship  was  a  distinct  and 
happy  privilege. 

His  talk  was  always  rich  and  entertaining.  He  had 
strong,  interesting  views  on  every  subject  he  touched, 
and  at  times  I  have  thought  he  resembled  not  a  little 
the  great  lexicographer, — but  only  in  the  latter's  most 
genial  moments.  How  many  delightful  nights  I  can 
look  back  upon  when, 

"Long,  long  through  the  hours,  and  the  night  and  the  chimes, 

We  talked  of  old  books  and  old  friends  and  old  times" 
for  he  was  no  advocate  of  early  bed,  and  not  seldom  in 

[88] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

that  pleasant  country  house  of  his  at  York,  with  the 
lines  of  the  famous  Latin  bard  over  the  portal,  the  glow 
in  the  east  sent  us  to  bed ! 

"Dum  rediensfugat  astra  Phcebus," 
as  the  same  poet  hath  it. 

A  single  word  more.  It  has  been  my  privilege  to  take 
part  in  two  other  meetings  of  this  Association,  called 
upon  the  deaths  of  two  other  classmates — the  genial 
and  witty  Robert  Smith,  the  profound,  clear-headed 
James  Storrow.  Our  circle  is  again  broken  by  the  loss 
of  our  much-loved  John  Ropes. 

I  do  no  injustice  to  those  who  remain — and  they  are 
unknown  neither  to  the  profession  nor  the  country - 
by   saying  that  the  arrows  of  death  have  struck  our 
most  shining  marks. 

"Those  friends  of  mine 

Who  are  no  longer  here,  the  noble  three 
Who  half  my  life  were  more  than  friends  to  me 
And  whose  discourse  was  like  a  generous  wine" 

Life  ceases  to  be  quite  the  same  when  those  who  con 
tributed  to  make  it  what  it  was  are  gone.  And  though 
we  put  on  a  good  face  and  keep  a  good  courage,  one 
that  is  left  behind  may  be  pardoned  when  he  thinks  of 
Ropes  for  again  quoting  the  same  great  poet : — 

"Good-night,  good-night ,  as  we  so  oft  have  said 
Beneath  thy  roof  at  midnight,  in  the  days 

That  are  no  more  and  shall  no  more  return. 

Thou  hast  taken  thy  lamp  and  gone  to  bed; 
I  stay  a  little  longer,  as  one  stay* 

To  cover  up  the  embers  that  still  burn" 


[89] 


RESOLUTIONS 
OF  THE   TWENTIETH    REGIMENT   ASSOCIATION 


RESOLUTIONS 
OF  THE   TWENTIETH   REGIMENT   ASSOCIATION 

THE  members  of  the  Twentieth  Regiment  As 
sociation  wish  to  express  their  grief  at  the 
death  of  their  associate  brother,  Mr.  John  C. 
Ropes,  so  far  as  a  few  inadequate  words  may  do  so. 
They  know  that  the  loss  was  felt  by  the  whole  city,  and 
far  beyond  its  limits  to  an  extraordinary  degree,  but 
they  believe  that  Mr.  Ropes's  connection  with  them 
selves  had  in  it  something  singular,  notwithstanding  the 
many  and  close  ties  by  which  he  was  bound.  He  was 
the  first  man  whose  membership  of  the  Association  was 
not  based  upon  service  in  the  field,  yet  he  seemed  quite 
as  much  a  member  as  the  veterans  of  the  great  war. 
Only  obstacles  which  no  will  or  courage  could  surmount 
kept  him  from  our  battles,  and  that  he  was  kept  from 
them  was  the  greatest  grief  of  his  life.  His  brother  was 
killed  in  the  front  of  the  regiment  at  Gettysburg.  He 
himself  was  the  intimate  of  every  man  of  the  Twentieth 
who  wished  the  precious  gift  of  a  friendship  which,  with 
out  losing  nice  discrimination,  saw  the  best  side  of  all 
he  met.  He  knew  the  story  of  the  regiment  as  did  no 
one  else.  He  set  us  all  an  example  of  cheerful,  ever  gay 
courage  in  facing  misfortune,  of  gallantry  in  making  the 
most  of  facts  as  they  were,  instead  of  sighing  for  those 
which  were  not,  of  high  resolve  in  homely  attitude,  that 
taught  men  who  in  their  youth  were  schooled  in  war 
to  know  and  to  love  better  the  very  virtues  which  it  is 
the  glory  of  war  to  teach.  The  memory  of  him,  like  that 
of  Colonel  Lee,  always  will  be  one  of  the  great  lights  in 
a  constellation  that  has  nearly  set:  the  Twentieth  Regi- 

[93] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

ment  of  Massachusetts  Volunteers  in  the  war  which  he 
was  narrating  so  brilliantly  when  he  died. 


For  the  Regiment, 

OLIVER  WENDELL  HOLMES 
GUSTAVE  MAGNITZKY 
EDWARD  B.  ROBINS 

January  19  1900. 


•  Committee. 


[94] 


RESOLUTIONS 

OF   THE   MILITARY   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY   OF 
MASSACHUSETTS 


RESOLUTIONS 

OF  THE   MILITARY   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY 
OF   MASSACHUSETTS 

THE  Military  Historical  Society  of  Massachu 
setts  desire  to  place  on  record  the  love  which 
its  members  one  and  all  felt  for  their  friend, 
the  founder  of  this  Society,  the  late  John  Codman 
Ropes,  their  deep  sense  of  gratitude  for  his  constant  in 
terest  and  benefactions,  and  their  sorrow  for  his  loss. 

Nearly  one  quarter  of  a  century  has  passed  since  Mr. 
Ropes  founded  this  Society.  Until  less  than  five  years 
ago  all  its  meetings  were  held  in  his  house,  and  its  mem 
bers  entertained  by  him  with  generous  hospitality. 

Upon  its  establishment  in  its  present  quarters  Mr. 
Ropes  presented  it  with  his  valuable  library  on  the  Civil 
War,  numbering  about  five  hundred  volumes,  his 
unique  collection  of  works  on  the  Emperor  Napoleon, 
nearly  four  hundred  volumes  in  all,  many  works  on  gen 
eral  military  subjects,  about  one  thousand  prints,  over 
one  hundred  and  fifty  medals,  besides  many  beautiful 
bronzes  and  portraits.  In  addition  to  these  gifts  the 
amount  of  money  contributed  by  Mr.  Ropes  to  the  So 
ciety,  besides  ordinary  fees  and  dues,  exceeds  the  total 
amount  of  dues  and  contributions  paid  by  all  the  other 
members  during  all  these  twenty-five  years,  and  is  over 
twelve  thousand  five  hundred  dollars.  But  these  material 
contributions,  great  as  they  are,  are  far  from  represent 
ing  all  for  which  this  Society  owes  to  Mr.  Ropes  its  en 
during  gratitude.  From  the  earliest  beginning  down  to 
the  day  of  his  death  his  interest  never  flagged.  The 
friendship  of  many  distinguished  soldiers,  both  of  the 

[97] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

United  States  Army  and  upon  the  Confederate  side, 
procured  the  most  interesting  essays  upon  the  principal 
events  of  the  Civil  War,  while  his  intimate  knowledge 
of  the  subject  admirably  directed  the  investigations  of 
other  writers.  Last,  but  not  least,  by  his  wise  advice,  his 
cordial  encouragement,  and  his  never  ending  hospitality, 
he  promoted  in  a  thousand  ways  our  prosperity;  and  it 
is  not  too  much  to  say  that  whatever  success  the  Mili 
tary  Historical  Society  has  earned  is  due  to  the  wisdom, 
the  devotion,  and  the  perseverance  of  John  Codman 
Ropes.  Nor  is  it  unfitting  in  this  place  to  resolve,  that  if 
our  gratitude  is  to  be  other  than  hollow,  it  will  be  best 
shown  by  continuing  the  work  which  he  has  so  gener 
ously  entrusted  to  us,  so  that  it  may  remain  a  permanent 
monument  to  his  memory. 

Mr.  Ropes  showed  us  the  way  to  the  research  of  mili 
tary  history,  and  conferred  lustre  upon  the  Society  by 
his  works  upon  military  subjects.  Besides  the  many  pa 
pers  read  by  him,  and  numerous  articles  contributed  to 
reviews,  his  work  on  the  "Army  under  Pope"  in  the 
"Campaigns  of  the  Civil  War,"  that  on  "The  First  Na 
poleon,"  his  exhaustive  study  entitled  "The  Campaign 
of  Waterloo,"  and  his  unfinished  "Story  of  the  Civil 
War"  are  justly  regarded  as  standard  works  of  the  high 
est  authority.  Those  of  us  who  served  in  the  War  of 
the  Rebellion  well  know  that,  but  for  a  physical  infir 
mity,  he  would  have  been  among  us,  and  that  his  con 
stant  and  diligent  inquiry  into  the  true  history  of  that 
period  had  its  source  in  a  patriotism  as  pure  and  de 
voted  as  inspired  those  who  had  an  actual  share  in  the 
events  which  his  pen  has  so  well  described. 

Above  and  beyond  all  it  is  our  privilege  to  hold  in 
our  memories  a  friend,  upon  whose  kind  heart  we  could 

[98  ] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

always  rely,  whose  cordial  smile  lit  up  our  meetings, 
whose  wise  advice  was  ever  at  our  service,  and  whose 
benefactions  conferred  happiness  upon  many  unnum 
bered  and  unknown.  The  young  especially  found  in 
him  a  steadfast  friend  and  wise  adviser.  Imbued  with 
deep  religious  feeling  he  was  unhampered  by  preju 
dice  or  intolerance.  The  memory  of  him  must  always 
be  with  us  as  of  an  able,  upright,  pure  man, — individual 
in  his  character,  strong  in  his  convictions,  but  with  a 
liberality  that  tempered  his  judgment,  and  a  tenderness 
that  embraced  all  that  was  human. 

He  had  lived  his  life.  The  respect  of  the  community 
was  his.  The  love  of  friends  followed  him.  Well  pre 
pared  for  death,  he  doubtless  had  wished  that  he  might 
be  spared  to  finish  that  work,  to  which  he  had  given  so 
many  hours, — so  much  thought,  that  "magnum  opus" 
long  postponed  in  order  to  have  the  last  word  of  judg 
ment  on  so  many  vexed  questions,  and  therefore  so  im 
possible  of  completion  except  by  the  author  himself. 
But  it  was  otherwise  ordained.  On  the  day  preceding 
the  night  attack  of  fatal  illness  he  had  worked  hard  and 
long  on  the  pages  of  this  book,  nor  knew  how  soon  it 
might  be  said 

"the  hand  lies  cold 

Which  at  its  topmost  speed  let  fall  the  pen, 
And  left  the  tale  half  told.  " 

Ah!  who  shall  lift  that  wand  of  magic  power. 

And  the  lost  clew  regain? 
The  unfinished  window  in  Aladdin  s  tower 

Unfinished  must  remain  !  " 

November  7,  1899. 

[  99] 


RESOLUTIONS 

OF 

THE  COMMANDERY  OF  THE  STATE  OF  MASSACHUSETTS 

MILITARY   ORDER   OF   THE   LOYAL   LEGION 

OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 


RESOLUTIONS 

OF  THE  MILITARY  ORDER  OF  THE  LOYAL  LEGION 
OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 

JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES,  a  gentleman  who  in  civil 
life   during    the   Rebellion   was    specially   distin 
guished   for  conspicuous  and   consistent   loyalty. 
Earnest  in  loyal  influence  and  in  assistance  to  troops 
in  the  field  ;  an  exceptionally  diligent  student  and  able 
writer  on  the  history  of  the  war. 

This  Commandery  has  lost  many  distinguished  com 
panions  whose  lives  were  most  valuable  to  our  country, 
and  were  full  of  honors  which  shed  a  lustre  upon  our 
association,  but  none  more  full  of  the  martial  spirit 
than  the  life  of  John  Codman  Ropes. 

Prevented  by  physical  disability  from  taking  active 
service  in  the  field  with  the  other  young  men  who  were 
his  companions  and  friends,  he  bore  his  disappointment 
with  manly  courage  and  extraordinary  cheerfulness.  His 
interest  in  the  Civil  War  was  intensified  by  the  loss  of 
his  brother,  who  was  an  officer  in  the  Twentieth  Massa 
chusetts  Infantry  and  was  killed  at  Gettysburg;  and  his 
natural  love  of  study  and  investigation  led  his  mind, 
trained  by  his  legal  education  and  practice,  in  the  di 
rection  of  military  science.  Refusing  most  of  the  social 
opportunities  which  surrounded  him,  he  devoted  every 
moment  of  his  time  which  could  be  spared  from  his 
profession,  in  which  he  was  eminently  successful,  to 
hard  work  in  the  study  of  military  movements  and  es 
timates  of  the  success  or  failure  of  officers  and  soldiers 
engaged.  We  have  had  no  military  writer  who  displayed 

[103] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

more  love  of  his  subject  or  more  devotion  and  intel 
ligence  in  developing  the  movements  of  an  army,  the 
capacity  of  its  commanders,  and  the  value  of  its  sol 
diers.  His  acquaintance  and  friendship  with  many  of 
the  leaders  on  both  sides  of  our  conflict  gave  him  op 
portunities  for  information  unexcelled  by  any  military 
writer  upon  the  subject,  so  that  when  these  studies 
came  to  be  written  out,  his  books  were  a  monument  of 
patient  and  skilful  endeavor,  and  the  charm  of  his  com 
position  impressed  itself  upon  every  reader.  His  reputa 
tion  as  an  able  writer  and  critic  upon  great  military 
events  is  fully  established  both  at  home  and  abroad. 

His  disposition  was  most  kindly,  and  those  of  us  who 
were  honored  by  his  intimacy  remember  no  more  loyal 
or  affectionate  friend.  His  interest  in  young  men  and 
their  pursuits  was  especially  marked,  and  many  of  our 
young  companions  will  have  the  recollection  of  his  kind 
ness  and  hospitality  as  one  of  their  choicest  remem 
brances. 

The  Commandery  of  Massachusetts  joins  its  voice  in 
tribute  and  records  in  tender  remembrance  that  his 
memory  will  ever  rest  in  all  hearts  as  that  of  the  true 
soldier  and  honorable  high-minded  man,  who  brought 
credit  and  honor  to  the  Order. 


[  104 


RESOLUTIONS 

OF  THE  VESTRY   OF   TRINITY   CHURCH 
IN   THE   CITY   OF   BOSTON 


RESOLUTIONS 

OF  THE   VESTRY   OF  TRINITY   CHURCH 
IN   THE   CITY   OF   BOSTON 

MR.  ROPES  was  for  many  years  an  honored 
and  useful  member  of  this  Vestry  and 
throughout  his  long  service  illustrated  the 
qualities  of  character  which  endear  men  to  their  fel 
lows.  He  was  a  man  of  unstained  integrity,  of  singular 
warmth  of  heart,  of  brilliant  mind,  and  of  generous  im 
pulses.  He  therefore  won  both  respect  and  love.  Few 
men  have  so  signally  illustrated  a  genius  for  friendship, 
none  has  exercised  a  wider,  saner,  or  more  powerful  in 
fluence  over  educated  young  men.  His  life  was  so  full, 
his  mind  so  hospitable  to  all  knowledge,  his  sympathies 
so  wide,  that  he  gathered  about  him  and  knit  to  him  in 
abiding  bonds  of  friendship,  men  of  diverse  interests 
and  occupations.  He  lived,  as  few  men  have  ever  lived, 
successfully  in  two  worlds:  the  world  of  men,  affairs, 
pleasure,  and  work;  the  world  of  reverence,  faith,  and 
communion  with  God.  He  was  determined  to  know  as 
much  about  this  world  as  he  could;  so  he  became  an 
able  lawyer,  a  learned  historian,  a  brilliant,  accomplished 
member  of  society.  He  was  equally  determined  to  know 
as  much  about  God  as  he  could ;  so  he  became  a  trained 
theologian  and  a  reverent  follower  of  Jesus  Christ.  He 
loved  and  served  his  Church  because  it  made  him  a 
better  man,  deepened  his  trust  in  Jesus  Christ,  and 
strengthened  his  belief  in  immortality.  He  intelligently 
prized,  regularly  and  devoutly  received,  the  Sacrament, 
because  it  brought  him  consciously  into  the  presence 
of  God. 

[107  ] 


JOHN  CODMAN  ROPES 

His  was  a  courageous,  industrious,  fruitful,  and  faith 
ful  life.  We  his  associates  and  friends  will  long  and 
gratefully  remember  his  services  to  Trinity  Church  and 
the  City  of  Boston. 


[108] 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 
OF  THE  WRITINGS  OF  JOHN  CODMAN   ROPES 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

1 

The  Limits  of  Religious  Thought.  Bowdoin  Prize  Dissertation. 
1861.  (MS.) 

2 

James  Amory  Perkins.  In  "Harvard  Memorial  Biographies,"  vol.  i. 
Cambridge,  1866. 

3 

Argument  for  the  Continuance  of  the  Policy  of  the  Commonwealth  (of 
Massachusetts)  in  Regard  to  the  Exemption  from  Taxation  of  the 
Property  of  Liter ary^  Benevolent  ^  Charitable,  and  Scientific  Institu 
tions,  with  Especial  Reference  to  the  Taxation  of  Their  Bank  Shares 
under  the  Act  of  1871.  (With  George  Otis  Shattuck.)  22  pp.  Boston, 
1872. 

4 

The  Relation  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  to  Freedom  of  Re 
ligious  Thought.  Address  at  Third  Annual  Congress  in  the  Protes 
tant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States,  Boston,  November  15, 
1876.  In  "Authorized  Report  of  the  Third  Church  Congress  in  the 
United  States,"  pp.  112-118.  New  York,  1876. 

5 

The  Failure  to  take  Petersburg  on  the  16th,  17th,  and  18th  Days  of 
June  [1864].  Read  before  the  Military  Historical  Society  of  Massa 
chusetts,  February  17,  1879.  (MS.) 

6 

The  Extension  of  the  Suffrage  to  Women.  Lecture.  1880.  (MS.) 

7 

General  McClelland  Plans  for  the  Campaign  of  1862  and  the  Alleged 
Interference  of  the  Government  with  them.  Read  before  the  Military 
Historical  Society,  November  13,  1876.  In  "The  Peninsular  Cam 
paign  of  General  McClellan  in  1862.  Papers  read  before  the  Mili 
tary  Historical  Society  of  Massachusetts,"  vol.  i.,  pp.  3-28.  Boston, 
1881.  Reprinted  (revised)  in  "Papers  of  the  Military  Historical 

[in  ] 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Society  of  Massachusetts,"  vol.  i.,  pp.  61-87.  Boston  and  New  York, 
1895. 

8 

Taxation  of  Mortgaged  Real  Estate:  being  the  substance  of  re 
marks  before  the  Joint  Committee  on  Taxation  of  the  Legislature 
of  Massachusetts,  on  January  17  and  January  23,  1881,  with  addi 
tions  and  corrections.  14  pp.  Boston,  1881. 

9 

Who  Lost  Waterloo?  (With  two  maps.)  In  "Atlantic  Monthly," 
June,  1881,  pp.  785-800.  Enlarged  from  "The  Grouchy  Contro 
versy,1'  read  before  the  Military  Historical  Society,  October  8, 1877. 

10 

The  Army  under  Pope.  ("Campaigns  of  the  Civil  War,"  vol.  iv.) 
xii  +  229  pp.,  with  eight  maps.  New  York,  Charles  Scribner's  Sons, 
1881. 

11 

Napoleon  the  First.  Lecture.  1882.  (MS.) 

12 

The  Battle  of  Cold  Harbor.  Read  before  the  Military  Historical 
Society,  February  12,  1883.  (MS.) 

13 

General  Beauregard.  (Review  of  "The  Military  Operations  of  Gen 
eral  Beauregard  in  the  War  between  the  States,  1861-1865,"  by  Al 
fred  Roman.  New  York,  1884.)  In  "Atlantic  Monthly,"  April,  1884, 
pp.  551-560.  Reprinted  in  "Papers  of  the  Military  Historical  So 
ciety  of  Massachusetts,"  vol.  x.,  pp.  3-20.  Boston  and  New  York, 
1895. 

14 

General  Grant's  Campaign  in  Virginia  in  1864.  Read  before  the 
Military  Historical  Society,  May  19,  1884.  (MS.) 

15 

The  First  Napoleon:  A  Sketch,  Political  and  Military,  xx  +  347  pp., 
with  nine  maps.  Boston,  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.,  1885.  Twelfth 
edition,  corrected,  with  one  portrait,  1895.  (Lowell  Lectures,  de 
livered  in  March,  1885.) 

[  112] 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

16 

The  Campaign  of  General  Pope  in  Virginia:  Its  Object  and  General 
Plan.  Second  Part:  To  the  28th  of  August,  1862,  and  Third  Part: 
To  the  End  of  the  Campaign.  Read  before  the  Military  Historical 
Society,  February  12  and  March  12,  1877.  In  "The  Virginia  Cam 
paign  of  General  Pope  in  1862.  Papers  read  before  the  Military 
Historical  Society  of  Massachusetts,"  vol.  ii.,  pp.  57-70  and  73—97. 
Boston,  1886.  Reprinted  with  added  notes  in  "Papers  of  the  Mili 
tary  Historical  Society  of  Massachusetts,"  vol.  ii.,  pp.  57-70  and 
73-97.  Boston  and  New  York,  1895. 

17 

The  Hearing  in  the  Case  of  Fitz-John  Porter.  Read  before  the  Mili 
tary  Historical  Society,  January  12,  1880.  In  "The  Virginia  Cam 
paign  of  General  Pope  in  1862.  Papers,"  etc.,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  351-385. 
Boston,  1886.  Reprinted  (with  added  notes)  in  "Papers  of  the  Mili 
tary  Historical  Society  of  Massachusetts,"  vol.  ii.,  pp.  351-385. 
1895. 

18 

Note  to  article  by  Colonel  William  Allan  on  "Strength  of  the  Forces 
under  Pope  and  Lee,  in  August,  1862,"  in  "The  Virginia  Campaign 
of  General  Pope  in  1862.  Papers,"  etc.,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  217-219.  Bos 
ton,  1886.  Reprinted  in  "Papers  of  the  Military  Historical  Society 
of  Massachusetts,"  vol.  ii.,  pp.  217-219.  1895. 

19 

General  J.  E.  B.  Stuart.  (Review  of  "The  Life  and  Campaigns  of 
Major-General  J.  E.  B.  Stuart,"  by  H.  B.  McClellan.  Boston  and 
New  York;  Richmond,  Va.,  1885.)  In  "Atlantic  Monthly,"  March, 
1886,  pp.  415-419.  Reprinted  in  "Papers  of  the  Military  Historical 
Society  of  Massachusetts,"  vol.  x.,  pp.  155-162.  1895. 

20 

The  Likenesses  of  Julius  Caesar.  (With  eighteen  plates.)  In  "Scrib- 
ner's  Magazine,"  February,  1887,  pp.  131-142. 

21 

A  Few  Words  about  Secession.  In  "Harvard  Monthly,"  May,  1887, 
pp.  85-95. 

[113] 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

22 

Some  Illustrations  of  Napoleon  and  his  Times.  (With  nineteen 
plates.)  In  "Scribner^s  Magazine,"  June,  1887,  pp.  643-660. 

23 

General  McClellan.  (Review  of  "McClelland  Own  Story:  The  War 
for  the  Union,"  by  George  B.  McClellan.  New  York,  1887.)  In  "At 
lantic  Monthly,"1  April,  1887,  pp.  546-559.  Reprinted  in  "Papers 
of  the  Military  Historical  Society  of  Massachusetts,"  vol.  x.,  pp. 

99-124.  1895. 

24 

The  Slavery  Question  before  the  War.  1888,  rewritten  1890.  (MS.) 

25 

The  Campaign  of  Waterloo.  (With  thirty-nine  plates  and  two 
maps.)  In  "Scribner's  Magazine,"  March  and  April,  1888,  pp.  259- 

276,  387-407. 

26 

Remarks.  In  "The  Double  Taxation  of  Mortgaged  Real  Estate. 
Argument  before  the  Joint  Committee  on  Taxation  by  Nathan 

Matthews,  Jr."  1889. 

27 

The  Campaign  and  Battle  of  Gettysburg.  Lecture.  1890.  (MS.) 

28 
The  Law  of  Moral  Progress.  1890.  (MS.) 

29 

The  War  as  We  See  it  Now.  In  "Scribner's  Magazine,"  June,  1891, 
pp.  776-788.  Reprinted  in  "Papers  of  the  Military  Historical  So 
ciety  of  Massachusetts,"  vol.  x.,  pp.  247-272.  1895. 

30 

General  Sherman.  In  "Atlantic  Monthly,"  August,  1891,  pp.  191- 
204.  Reprinted  in  "Papers  of  the  Military  Historical  Society  of 
Massachusetts,"  vol.  x.,  pp.  127-152.  1895. 

31 

Memoir  of  F.  W.  Palfrey.  In  "Proceedings  of  the  Massachusetts 
Historical  Society,"  1891,  pp.  39-44. 

[  114  ] 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

32 

Memoir  of  Charles  Devens,  LL.D.  In  "Proceedings  of  the  Massa 
chusetts  Historical  Society,11 1891,  pp.  104-117.  Reprinted  in  "Ora 
tions  and  Addresses,"  by  Charles  Devens,  pp.  1-25.  Boston,  1891. 

33 

The  Campaign  of  Waterloo:  A  Military  History,  xiii  +  401  pp. 
New  York,  Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  1892. 

34 

An  Atlas  of  the  Campaign  of  Waterloo.  Designed  to  Accompany  the 
Author's  "Campaign  of  Waterloo — A  Military  History"  Fourteen 
maps.  New  York,  Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  1893. 

35 

Introduction  to  "The  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  in  1862,"  by 
William  Allan,  pp.  v-viii.  Boston  and  New  York,  1892. 

36 

William  Raymond  Lee.  In  "Proceedings  of  the  American  Academy 
of  Arts  and  Sciences,"  vol.  xxviii.,  1892-93,  pp.  346-348.  Boston, 
1893. 

37 

The  Story  of  the  Civil  War.  A  Concise  Account  of  the  War  in  the 
United  States  of  America  between  1861  and  1865.  Part  I.  Narrative 
of  Events  to  the  Opening  of  the  Campaigns  of  186%.  xiv  +  274  pp., 
with  maps  and  plans.  New  York,  G.  P.  Putnam^s  Sons,  1894. 

38 

The  Venezuela  Question.  A  Plea  for  Freedom  of  Opinion.  In  "Bach 
elor  of  Arts,"  May,  1896,  pp.  725-753. 

39 

The  Story  of  the  Civil  War.  A  Concise  Account  of  the  War  in  the 
United  States  of  America  between  1861  and  1865.  Part  II.  The 
Campaigns  of  1862.  xii  +  475  pp.,  with  maps  and  plans.  New  York, 
G.  P.  PutnanVs  Sons,  1898. 

THE   END 


Five  hundred  copies  of  this  book  were  printed  by  D.  B.  Updike,  at 
The  Merrymount  Press,,  Boston,  in  April,  1901. 


A  memoir  of   the  life 


.5 

R65M4 


of  John    Codrian  Ropes 


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